The Curveball
by XSakuraBlossomPrincessX
Summary: "Something which is unexpected, surprising, or disruptive. "there's always a curveball on every mission"" Kakashi and Sakura were use to the curveballs life usually threw them, but this? This came out of no where and will change their whole lives.
1. Prologue

Hello all and welcome to the prologue of my new story!

This chapter will be short and mainly sets the tone of how this story will go.

Expect some drama, tears, and laughter!

Disclaimer: sadly I don't own anything :(

..00..

Sakura's back hit the wall with a soft thud.

Truth be told, she always thought that being picked up by an attractive man and shoved against a wall would be a huge turn on. Of course, she was sure it would be if the circumstances surrounding her current predicament were - shall we say - different.

She felt a hand grip her hip so tightly she was sure it would leave a bruise.

"Sakura." Came the horse whisper in her ear.

"This is the only way. I, dang it." Whatever was going to be said was cut off as the door leading into the room they were currently in opened.

Without any preamble she felt her underwear being torn away and that's when reality really set in.

She was going to lose her virginity to Kakashi-sensi on a stupid mission in the most idiotic way. Why, oh why hadn't they been more careful! This was supposed to be an easy mission to simply learn more about what a group of missing nins agenda was.

But no. They had to get caught and they both knew the only way to get out of this situation was leave no room for doubt that all they had been doing was looking for a quiet place to screw. Simply making out wouldn't work with people who would expect that; would see straight through the lie.

They had to make it believable.

"I'm sorry, Sakura." Kakashi whispered before he smashed his lips against hers and entered her in on swift thrust.

They would never be the same after this.

..00..

Soooooo. Yeah.

The story will pick up some time after this mission and we'll get to see how poor Sakura and Kakashi are dealing with the aftermath.

I've got a lot in store for these two!

Until next time!

Loves!


	2. Chapter 1 - Six Years Later

Hello again!

Here is the second installment of The Curveball!

Enjoy!

..00..

Sakura sighed as she rubbed her eyes with a fist. She knew it was late, but there was just so much paperwork to catch up on! Patient charts needed signed, a nurse schedule that she still needed to finish, and that was just one stack on her desk. Normally she wouldn't let it all get that backed up, but a team of jounin had been brought in on the brink of death and that had pulled her away from her planned day of playing paperwork catch up.

Not that she minded, of course. She'd much rather be saving lives than signing documents, but after she had taken the position as Head of Medicine two years ago she found that she saw less and less of people and more and more of paper.

Originally, she hadn't wanted to leave the field. She had only been 25 when she accepted the position; she had felt that she had a whole lot more that she could contribute before settling herself behind a desk. Of course, the reason she accepted didn't have a thing to do with any of that. No, it had all to do with a soft plea from the Hokage.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Sakura knew she had to concentrate if she wanted to make it in time for Naruto's welcome home dinner.

It had been ten years since he had come to see her that early morning in February.

He hadn't been able to meet her eyes for fear that he would lose it, at least that's what she told herself. All he could say was that he needed time. Time to come to terms with all he had seen and done. She understood, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt. To be honest, it still hurt. He had left her to deal with everything without him. He had been selfish and it was that very thought that made this party tonight something she dreaded.

Once again getting lost in the past, she thought back to what had happened after the war ended.

It

had taken a lot out of everyone and each person coped differently than the next. Some retired, wanting to live in peace. Others took S-ranked mission after S-ranked mission. Some others did a little bit of both.

Sakura, well, Sakura threw herself into her training to forget everything. She had begged Kakashi - the only one of her team that didn't leave - to help her make it into ANBU as a medic. He naturally refused at first, stating that it was no place for someone as kind hearted as her. He didn't understand what have drove her to want in, that was until she smacked him and quietly told him that she knew exactly what she was getting into. Something she said must have worked because the next day she had been summoned to ANBU headquarters.

Kakashi's only request? She had to be on his team.

Stupid man had gone back to ANBU just so he could keep her safe.

At first it had angered her, but later on she understood. After all, she wasn't the only person that had been left behind by everyone.

Sai had gone back to the Black Ops straight away; three months later he left for a mission that he never returned from.

Sasuke had tried to stay in the village, but only lasted just under a year. Too many memories, he had said. So he had left in the middle of the night without so much as a goodbye. It was three months later that Naruto had left as well.

So in the end, she understood Kakashi's reasons for going back. She was, after all, all he had left.

Just as he was for her.

She had joined at the age of eighteen and for three years Kakashi and Sakura made up ANBU team four. Sometimes they took on two other members when a mission called for it, but for most of the time it was just them two of them. That was of course, until the botched mission in wave country that almost ruined them both.

They had been undercover trying to gather information on a group of rouge missing nin that had begun to make a nuisance of themselves. They had found out enough to sanction hits on all five members when they had been caught where the shouldn't be. The only choice they had was to make it seem like all they were doing was looking for a place to be alone, but of course since they were dealing with missing nin they knew simply making out wouldn't save them.

No, it had to look real and the only way for that was for it to be real.

After that Kakashi had been distant. They were given a three month paid leave when the details emerged, and to be honest, Sakura thought she would lose him.

He blamed himself, thought that he had failed her. He had ignored her for the better part of two months before they finally ran into each other at a local bar. Both had already been three shades to the wind so when Sakura saw his hair from far off she saw red. Kakashi had barely gotten them out before she blew everything and let everyone know what had happened.

He had transported them back to his apartment just in time because three seconds later and she had been yelling and screaming at him. He had left her, he had brushed her off to deal with everything herself!

She only had stopped yelling when she realized that Kakashi had sat on his couch with his head bowed down, simply letting her yell at him.

When she had been quiet for a span of time he finally had looked up at her and asked one simple question.

"You don't hate me?"

After that she had run out of steam and moved to sit down beside him.

"I could never hate you, Kakashi."

They had stayed like that the rest of the night, finally speaking about what had happened. It was then that they decided that it was best to leave it all in the past and move forward. He couldn't lose her and she couldn't lose him. It was as simple as that.

For the next four years they had continued as ANBU team four, then came the announcement that Tsunade was retiring and had named Kakashi as her successor. As proud as she had been for him, after all he DID deserve it, she knew it would mean he would be leaving her alone once again.

Three days after he had accepted the title as the sixth Hokage he had come by her apartment. After what seemed like a forever stretch of silence he crushed her to him. He begged her to leave ANBU, begged her to take a position at the hospital that would keep her out of the field. At first she resisted, angered that he felt like she couldn't take care of herself. It wasn't until he shook his head at her and whispered, "I can't send you out for missions not knowing if you'll ever come back. I can't lose you Sakura and if something happened it would be my fault. I can't live with that. It would be the end of me."

Shaking her head once more, she banished the memories away. She had to get all this paperwork done!

"Naruto will be pissed if you miss his party, Sakura."

Jumping, she banged her knee on the desk in front of her.

"Don't scare me like that, Kakashi!"

Chuckling he made his way out of her door frame and come to lean against the side of her desk.

"But it's so much fun to see you jump!"

"I can't believe you're the Hokage. You act like you can't be more than five years old." She grumbled as she grabbed a stack of papers and started to go through them. At least, she did until her pen was plucked out of her fingers and the charts were moved out of reach.

"You can finish that tomorrow, Hokage's orders. Come on, it's after 8 o'clock and the party has been going on for an hour already."

Sighing, Sakura pushed her chair away from her desk and stood up, cracking her neck as she rotated it.

"Hokage's orders, huh? Guess I can't argue with that, can I?" She grumbled, but a smile was already making its way to her face.

"Exactly. What good is power if I can't throw it around once in a while?"

"Don't get cocky. You're buying me a drink to make up for scaring me." She said as she grabbed his cheeks and pinched.

"I'm fourteen years older than you, why do you insist on doing that?"

"Because for some reason it amuses me. Come on, let's go so I can get this over with." She said as she shrugged out of her lab coat and smoothed out her wrinkled outfit she had underneath.

A hand settled on her shoulder, pulling her back into the warm, solid chest that was all Kakashi. "Naruto's back, Sakura. Be happy tonight, everything else can wait till later."

Sighing she turned around and wove her arms around his torso. Kakashi rested his chin on the top of her head and returned her embrace.

"Nothing ever stays the same, but that's not always a bad thing. You once told me what's in the past needs to stay there. Well, now it's my turn. Don't be mad at him right now. You'll regret it the rest of your life if you spend all night wallering in self pity. It's been ten years and we've both changed. Maybe he has too."

All she could do was nod, her hair tickling this chin.

"You won't leave my side?" She asked meekly.

"Never." Came his whispered reply.

..00..

Ah, second chapter done! I actually intended to post it last night, but I had been up since four that morning and all I wanted to do was sleep!

In case anyone was confused, Sakura is now 27 and Kakashi is 41. The events in the last chapter happened six years ago, when she was 21 and Kakashi was 35.

And no, they're not "together" right now, they're just very close.

Anyways, I want to thank everyone for their kind reviews! The first one this story recieved was done by a "guest" and it was pretty awful. I mean, I can handle constructive criticism (it's how you grow, right?). But then Clover Clover Dover left such a kind review and it made my day!

P.S. I agree with you, I much prefer an older Sakura in my KakaSaku stories! More realistic, if you ask me.

Hopefully everyone liked this chapter and where we have our two main characters in their lives!

Until next time! 3


	3. Chapter 2 - Who said parties were fun?

Happy Friday everyone!

I was over on hours today so I was able to leave work at 12, so that means a new chapter for y'all!

Oh, and I noticed some confusing on the two different years I wrote in the previous chapter about how long they had been teammates. There were teammates for three years before the events in the prologue and then they were teammates for another four years before Kakashi became the Hokage. Sorry for the confusion!

Anyways, on with chapter two!

...

Kakashi usually tried to avoid parties at all cost.

His preferred way of spending his down time was hiding away from everyone with a good book. Actually, now that he thought about it, he preferred to hide away from everyone except the pink haired woman that was currently walking by his side. If he hadn't been wearing his every present mask she might have been able to see how that thought cause a slight frown to form on his lips.

Of course, it wasn't a bad thing, it just threw him a bit. Now that he acknowledged that tid bit of information his frown disappeared. It wasn't surprising, really, after all they had spent seven years on an ANBU team together. He had become accustomed to her presence and found that when she wasn't around he could tend to get a little lonely.

Him, lonely. It was almost laughable.

After all, he had spent a good portion of his life trying NOT to be close to anyone. Sure, he cared a lot team seven, but it was a detached sort of care. It wasn't until they all left and Sakura had pleaded for him to help her get into ANBU that he finally formed a bond that, so far, was unbreakable.

"So, how long do you think we'll have to stay until we can make our excuses and leave?"

Blinking, Kakashi zoned back to the present and glanced down at the woman beside him.

"Until we can leave? Hm, well, I'd say at least an hour. Of course, that's if you want Naruto to throw a fit." He replied. Truly, it bothered him slightly how reluctant Sakura was about going to this party.

Sighing, she hunched her shoulders in defeat. "You're right, and the last thing I want right now is for him to make a scene. I told you about how he came barging into my office when he first came back yesterday, didn't I?"

Chuckling, he brought around her shoulders pulled her closer to his side.

"You did. Surely you haven't forget how after he left you barged into MY office to tell me all about it."

Laughing, he felt her slide an arm around his waist.

"Oh yeah. Can't imagine how that slipped my mind."

Shaking his head, he replied, "Maybe because you tend to barge in my office quite frequently?"

Suddenly that friendly arm around his waist turned viscous as she poked his ribs. Hard.

"Ouch. Hey, hey, I'm just being honest! Why do you have to be so mean, Sakura-chan?" He even gave her his best pouty face.

It didn't work.

"Don't even try it. You deserved that poke and you know it! I don't barge into your office! I alway knock, you're just too busy staring out of the window to notice. Really, Hokage-sama, you should pay better attention!" She replied playfully.

If anyone would see them, they would easily mistake them for a couple. After all, they were walking with their arms around each other.

"Aw, come on now! There may be a little old lady out there that needs help crossing the street and if I'm so focused on paperwork I may not see her!"

Sakura dropped her arm from his waist at that and buried her face in her hands.

Chuckling Kakashi dropped his arm as well, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"You'll never change, will you?" She asked, her voice muffled by her hands.

Grinning, Kakashi said, "Nope, never!"

...

As soon as they joined the party they were separated. Naruto had pulled her over to the group that consisted of their old classmates and she vaguely saw Kakashi join Genma and Yamato. Sighing, she pushed her hair behind her ears and tried to pay attention to the story Naruto was currently telling.

"And then there were mist ANBU everywhere! It was like, you blinked and you'd be dead! But I made a few shadow clones and confused them, because really, they were so shocked to see me anyways! And, hey! Sakura-chan! Don't fall asleep without hearing the end!"

Snapping out of her daze she smiled slightly.

"Sorry, Naruto-kun, it's been a long day and it's after nine already. Usually I'm in bed by now."

"Already in bed! But that's for old people, Sakura-chan!"

"We aren't kids anymore, Naruto-kun. I'm usually at the hospital before eight and if I want to function properly I have to at least try to be in bed at a decent time."

"Same here. It get worse when you have a kid to chase after!" Ino piped up. She had married Genma four years ago and together they had twin boys who just turned one.

"You guys act so old!" Naruto said, slightly louder than his normal loud due to all the alcohol he had already consumed.

"We can't all be like you. Some of us didn't put our lives on hold to go travel the world." Sakura grumbled, fatigue and irritation loosening her lips. She has forgone alcohol for the night, deciding she'd rather feel decent in the morning than hungover.

"What? Sakura-chan! It wasn't like that!"

Sighing, she rubbed her temples.

"Look Naruto-kun, I'm tired. I didn't mean to start any big debate."

"What's there to debate about, anyways!?"

"Goodness, Naruto-kun, can you at least try to keep it down." Ino grumbled. "Anyways, sorry guys, but it's time for me to find Genma and take off. The twins will be upset if I'm away too long. It's good to have you back, Naruto-kun." Ino said as she stood up, moving to give Sakura a hug before she disappeared in search of her husband.

"Naruto-kun, I think I'm going to have to head out too. I don't want my fatigue cause me to say anything to you I'd regret." Sakura said, moving to grab her purse and stand up.

Jumping up as well, Naruto moved to grab a hold of her arm, halting her escape.

"No. You're not leaving until you tell me what you're talking about!"

"Let go of me Naruto-kun." Sakura whispered. The last thing she wanted was for a scene to be caused tonight.

"No! You're not telling me something! Why are you acting like you have a big stick up your butt!" He all but shouted. "I noticed it yesterday, but I thought it was because you were at work. And what's up with that anyways? Shikamaru mentioned that you no longer take missions. What, have you decided you're too good for all of it?"

Sakura tried hard to tell herself it was the alcohol talking. Tired so hard to tell herself he didn't actually mean those words, but as she looked into the face that had once comforted her she only saw a stranger.

"I'll tell you once more, Naruto-san, let go of my arm." She said in a low voice she hadn't heard herself use in years.

"Or what? You'll cry? That's all you were good for anyways, right?"

"That's enough, Naruto-kun. It's been a long few days and the alcohol you've been drinking is altering your judgment. You two can discuss this later, when you're both well rested and you're sober." Kakashi said behind Sakura, having come over when he heard Naruto begin to raise his voice. He put a hand on her shoulder and moved to pull Naruto's hand off her arm.

"Still need someone to save you, don't you Sakura-chan?" Naruto taunted.

She felt Kakashi's grip on her shoulder tighten at Naruto's words.

She was so frustrated and upset and all she wanted to do was go home and sleep. She wanted to rewind time and chose to skip this stupid party. Of course, not even in her wildest dreams did she think Naruto would act this way. It truly was like a stranger had taken his place.

"I don't need anyone to defend me, Naruto-san, but I'm thankful that I have people who care enough to do just that. I'm not that girl anymore and words and taunts aren't going to make me burst into tears. Now, I'm going to go home andnget some rest. After you grow and sober up maybe we can talk like adults. Until then, welcome back and I hope you have a great night." Turning she left the group, not even pausing to see if anyone was following her.

She made it out of the door before she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder.

"He was drunk, Sakura. I'm sure he didn't mean anyone of it."

"It's okay, Kakashi. I know and honestly, right now, I'm too tired to care. I just want to curl up in bed and forget this horrible night. I knew it was a bad idea coming."

Sighing, Kakashi fell into step with her as she began to make her way home.

"I don't know if you should be alone right now. You've been off since he came back yesterday."

"Somehow I knew you'd say that." She replied with a small smile. "I suppose I could invite you over for some tea before I turn in. After all, maybe some ranting will make me feel better."

Laughing, Kakashi stuffed his hands in his pockets.

"I thought you'd never ask."

...

Sometimes Kakashi hated being the Hokage. Oh, don't get him wrong, it was a great honor and he was proud to lead the village that he had fought and bled for, but the paperwork and politics were enough to drive out the last bit of remaining sanity he had.

Rubbing a hand over his tired eyes he tried once again to focus on the itinerary for the upcoming Kage summit. It would be held in Konoha this time around and there was so much left to do to finalize security and housing.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door that caused him to look up just in time to see a blonde head poke in.

"Eh, Kakashi-sensei? Do you have time to have our meeting now or do I need to come back later?" Said Naruto as he hung out at the door.

"No, come on in Naruto-kun. Now is actually a good time."

He noticed that the boy - well, man, actually - look slightly hung over and extremely sheepish. Most likely, he thought, due to his actions the night before.

It would be a lie if Kakashi said he wasn't about ready to rip off the blonde's arm when he had grabbed Sakura. Not that he didn't think she could take care of herself, because let's be honest, she could be downright scary at times. He had been on too many missions with her to ever think she was helpless, but there was something about seeing her delicate arm being gripped by a not too friendly hand that made his blood boil.

Naruto sat down in one of the two chairs in front of his desk as he waited for Kakashi to stack the papers he had been looking at into a neat stack.

"So, are you back for good, or is this just going to be a short visit?"

"I'm back for good, Kakashi-sensei. Ten years was more than enough time for me to realized that all I need is right here in this village."

"Well then, I'll reinstate you as a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf village and you'll take up the rank you left with. I know, you're well above a chunin in skill, but you'll still have to take the jounin exams." Kakashi said as Naruto's face semi fell.

"Don't worry, it won't be for too long. We have the exams coming up in about six months. I'd advise you to use this time to reintegrate yourself back into life here."

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto replied with a frown on his face.

In all actuality, Kakashi was iffy on Naruto right now. His actions the night before spoke volumes of his maturity level, even taking the alcohol into account. He needed to change his thinking from one of a wanderer to that of a leaf shinobi. He understood it would take time, but hopefully he would get back into the swing of things before the jounin exams; he'd hate to have to hold Naruto back from taking them.

Sighing to himself, he realized there was more that Naruto wanted to talk about other than his reinstatement.

"Is there anything else, Naruto-kun?"

"Well, actually..."

"Are you having a problem finding housing?"

"Huh? Oh, no. I'm staying with Rock Lee until I can find an apartment. I'm actually planning to go look around after I leave here."

"Well, then, what is it, Naruto-kun? Not that I don't look forward to hearing about your travels, but I'm afraid it'll have to wait for now. I'm swamped with paperwork at the moment and I really need to get back to it."

"Oh, sorry, Kakashi-sensei. I'll make this quick, I promise! I just, well, I just wanted to ask you about Sakura-chan."

Tensing at he name, he hoped Naruto didn't pick up on it.

"What did you want to ask me about?"

Wringing his hand a bit, he finally looked up and said, "well, she's just been acting so weird. I know I overstepped my boundaries last night and I intend to apologize! But, well, it's almost like she doesn't even like that I'm back."

Sighing, Kakashi resisted the urge to rub his temples. He really didn't have time to be explaining everything to Naruto, even if he felt like he had the right to. This was a conversation he needed to have with the pink haired woman himself.

"Naruto-kun, I'm sure she's happy you're back. I don't feel comfortable discussing Sakura's feelings with you though; this is something you'll need to talk to her about."

Looking dejected, Naruto sat forward a bit in his chair.

"But Kakashi-sensei! I don't even know how to ask her! I made an idiot out of myself last night and I know she's still pissed at me! You know she always did hold grudges."

"Naruto-kun, you haven't seen her in ten years. She's grown up, but I'm sorry, I'm still not going to discuss this with you."

Defeated, Naruto got up from his chair and made his way to the door, pausing and turning around before he opened it.

"Thanks for seeing me, Kakashi-sensei. I'll be the best chunin you've ever had!" He exclaimed with a grin on his face.

Smiling slightly, he said, "I'll hold you to that, Naruto-kun."

Grinning still, Naruto turned around and made to open the door before Kakashi decided he had one more thing to say.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, one more thing."

"Yeah, Kakashi- sensei?"

"If you ever grab Sakura like that again, I'll make sure you'll never be able to grab anything ever again, okay?" He said with his typical eye crinkle.

Naruto visibly gulped before he nodded and left the Hokage's office.

...

Ah, and another chapter down!

Thanks so much to everyone who had been favoriting and following this story! And thanks for all the lovely reviews! They make my day and I love reading what everyone thinks of the story so far! 3

Until next time guys!


	4. Chapter 3 - Blame it on the alcohol

Hello again! Here is chapter 3!

...

Sakura was tired.

Like, she wished she could just curl up on the floor under her desk and sleep. Kakashi had stayed until after eleven the night before and then it was after one before she settled down enough to actually fall asleep.

Then she came in to all the paperwork she had left the night before. She knew she should have skipped that darn party.

It was almost lunch time before she even took a slight break. Her stomach started growling and she knew she would need to pause and grab some food soon or she would be completely useless.

Suddenly her door cracked open and a platinum blonde head peeked in.

"Forehead? You busy?"

Sighing, Sakura put her pen down and rubbed her head. "When am I ever not busy?"

Stepping inside and closing the door Ino made her way to the chair in front of Sakura's desk.

"Too true. You need to take a break every now and then - like right now! Genma is watching the twins and I've come to kidnap you for lunch. It's been forever and we have so much to catch up on!"

Laughing, Sakura decided to say "screw it" to the reports and spun around to grab her purse off the floor.

"You caught me at a good time cause I'm starving. Let's try that new burger place a few blocks away."

"Sounds good to me." Ino said as she got up from her chair and made her way with Sakura out of the door.

They chatted a bit as they made their way to the restaurant and Sakura was reminded how good it was to have a friend like Ino. Sure, they had has their issues in the past, but now she looked at the blonde like she was the sister she never had.

"Oh, we're here! This place does look promising!" Ino exclaimed.

They made their way inside and were seated in a booth in the back.

"Your waitress will be right with you! Enjoy your meal!" The hostess said enthusiastically.

"Did we have that much energy when we were younger?" Sakura asked.

"Probably." Ino said laughing.

Soon a petite red head came up and introduced herself as Suki.

"What can I get you ladies to drink?"

"I'll have a coke." Sakura said, looking up from the menu.

"I'll have the same." Ino said.

"Do you need time to look through the menu or do you already know what you want?"

"I'll have the jumbo burger, but without the pickles." Sakura ordered, giving the waitress her menu.

"I'll take the Texan and can I have extra onions with it?"

"You sure can! I'll get these orders in for you and be back with your drinks." Suki said as she closed her order book and walked away.

"Okay, so, Genma said he heard through the grapevine that things got a little intense after I left last night." The blonde said.

Huffing, Sakura tucked her left foot under her.

"It wasn't too bad. Naruto was drunk so I didn't take anything he said too seriously. Kakashi stepped in when Naruto got a little too handsy so it was all fine. I left soon after you did."

Grinning, Ino gave her friend a sly look. "Oh, he did, did he?"

"Don't look at me like that, you know how it is with him. Kakashi and I are close, but as friends."

"Uh huh. Sure. You've been telling me that for the past five or six years now. I still say the man has the complete hots for you and I'd say you feel the same way."

"Ino! Did you want to come out just to grill me about Kakashi again?"

Laughing, Ino remaind quiet as the waitress came back with their drinks.

After she walked away, she continued.

"No, I wanted to see you and talk to another adult. You cherish things like that when all you normally talk to is babies."

"What about Genma?"

"He's my first baby, duh."

Laughing, Sakura couldn't help but grin.

"Anyways, back to Kakashi. You two act like a couple every time you're around one another. It's not just me that sees it. I know Genma gives Kakashi a hard time about it every time he sees him. We actually have a bet going. I give you another year before you pop up pregnant and Genma says it'll be closer to six months."

Almost spitting her soda out, Sakura grabbed a napkin and dabbed at her lips.

"You do not have a bet like that!"

"Oh, we totally do. Maybe it's wishful thinking, I'm mean, cause I would love to have another momma friend!"

Shaking her head, Sakura buried her face in her hands.

"I can't believe you have a bet with your husband on Kakashi knocking me up."

"Like I said, wishful thinking. But really Forhead, why do you both fight it so much?"

"It's not that we fight it, Pig-"

"Here we are! A jumbo burger without pickles and a Texan with extra onions! Enjoy and I'll be by to check on you!" Suki said as we bounced away.

"Oh, thank goodness. I'm starving."

They both ate most of their food in silence, too hungry to chat. Soon, though, Ino went back to the previous subject.

"Okay, now that my stomach isn't trying to eat my intestines, we can get back to you and Kakashi."

"There isn't a Kakashi and I. We're friends. That's it."

"Nope. I say you're in denial and Genma thinks the same about Kakashi. You just need to jump him and get it over with."

"I'm not gonna jump him!"

"Why not? Im sure he's sexy underneath that mask and he has the body of a ninja. Just do it and see what happens."

"What will happen with be a ruined friendship for a few hours of fun." Sakura grumbled.

"Or it could be the start of a wonderful sex life."

"Pig!"

"What? It's the truth, how else are you gonna pop out babies?"

"I'm not gonna pop out babies!"

"That's what you say now, but mark my words, you'll be pregnant by the end of the year with little silver haired, green eyed babies!"

"You're insane."

"And you're in denial. Come on, Forhead, just try it!"

"I will not! Anyways, I need to get back to work."

"Uh huh, you just don't want to discuss this anymore."Ino grumbled, taking a last sip of her soda before getting up and grabbing her purse.

"Exactly." Sakura muttered as they made their way to pay for their meal.

...

It was a week after that lunch with Ino and the conversation was still replaying in her mind.

She knew that people often wondered what kind of relationship she had with Kakashi, especially now that he was the Hokage. She understood, after all if it was any other two people she would probably be thinking the same thing.

It was late on a Saturday night and Kakashi was coming over for dinner. Well, he was bringing take out and they were gonna eat in her apartment. It had become their thing, dinner on Saturaday night. They had to skip it last week though, because Kakashi had gotten tied up in meetings until well into the night.

Ugh, she though, how was she gonna look at him normal now that Ino had made her think about sex and babies?

She was NOT gonna jump him. No way, no how. They had only ever been that close once, and it had almost destroyed their relationship.

Of course, that could also be chalked up to the fact that it was on a mission and such, but that was beside the point.

Lost in thought, she jumped when she heard the knock at the door. Getting over she shock, she got up off her couch and made her way over to the door. Looking out of the peephole she saw a silver head and unlocked and opened the door.

"You're on time."

Shrugging, Kakashi moved into the apartment after Sakura moved out of the doorway.

"It was a long day and I'm hungry. Didn't have the energy to get lost on the road of life."

Rolling her eyes, she followed him to the dinning room table and helped him take the food out of the bags.

"Oh yum. I was hoping you'd be craving Chinese too."

Laughing, Kakashi dished out the food on the two plates Sakura had already sat out and sat down.

"I wondered why I had a Chinese takeout menu stuck in with the jounin med exams you left on my desk.

Giggling, Sakura sat down opposite of her companion and began to dig in.

"What can I say? I've been craving it."

They ate in companionable silence and soon the food had been devoured. Kakashi had long since been comfortable enough to remove his mask around her and sometimes it still gave her butterflies when he pulled the cloth down and it pooled around his neck.

Sakura had gotten out wine and had already had a glass before Kakashi had gotten to her apartment. Now she was already done with her second and could feel the effects of the alcohol.

Kakashi had a slight stubble on his jaw. He always did hate shaving and not for the first time she wondered how it would feel to kiss him with that stubble.

Knock it off! She told herself.

She had to get what Ino said out of her head before she did something stupid like actually jumping him.

"Something wrong, Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

Startled, she glanced up from his lips to his eyes.

"What? Oh, no. I must have just zoned out."

"Long week?"

"Incredibly long. I'm ready for a long vacation. I was thinking about seeing if I could rope someone into going to the new spa that opened up in Takiline City with me. I heard it was amazing."

"I've heard good things about it as well."

Getting up from the table Sakura moved into the kitchen and poured herself another glass of wine.

"Trying to get drunk?" Came a voice right behind her.

Jumping, she turned around and found that Kakashi had moved right up behind her and now there was only a few inches that separated them.

"Oh, no. Well, I mean, maybe. I'm just seeing what happens." She muttered.

"Okay, spill."

"Spill? Spill what?"

"Whatever it is that's bothering you. You're acting odd."

"I'm fine. I'm just tired and I really love this wine."

Not budging, Kakashi crossed his arms.

"I call bull on that. I'm not backing away until you tell me whats wrong."

Maybe the wine had loosened her lips, because the next thing she knew she was telling Kakashi it was nothing major, just something Ino had said.

"Something Ino said? What did she say?"

Turning back around, Sakura grabbed her glass and drank half in one gulp. She was surprised when she felt Kakashi up against her back and his fingers taking her glass away.

"Woah. I think you've had enough." He murmured, right next to her ear. She could feel his breath as it glided across her skin.

She felt her stomach flop at his nearness.

"Come on, Kakashi, I'm fine."

She felt herself being turned around and blushed when Kakashi took her chin in his hand.

"Don't lie to me, Sakura."

It had to be the wine. It had to be. At least, that's what she told herself.

"Okay, fine. You want to know what's bothering me?"

"Yes."

"Fine, what's bothering me is the fact that Ino said I should jump you and I've been trying to tell myself no. But you know what? Screw common sense." And at that Sakura grabbed his shirt and and leaned up to press her lips to his.

...

Ah! I wasn't going to update until Monday, but all the cookies and beer (actually, only half a beer. I'm a complete lightweight because I hardly ever drink.) have made me want to write so bad!

I know. Bad bad.

Anyways, Sakura made her move! Go girl!

Once again, thanks so much for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! They mean so much to me!

Until next time!


	5. Chapter 4 - Let's replace bad memories

Hello again, and welcome back to The Curveball!

Here's chapter four!

...

To say Kakashi was surprised when he felt Sakura lean up and push her lips to his would be a vast understatement.

His shock latest all of a few seconds before he felt himself kiss her back. His right arm gripped her hip as his left cradled the back of her head. He felt her small arms go around his waist and tug him closer to her body. The arm that was gripping her hip moved to take the wine glass behind her and move it over before he picked her up and placed her on the counter. He stepped in between her thighs and placed his hands on her waist. He felt her arms moved from his waist to his neck and her nails lightly raked down his neck.

Deep inside his mind he knew this was crazy. This was SAKURA. He knew he should stop it before it got out of control but the feel of her chest pressed against his caused him to completely ignore that voice in his head.

He lightly trailed one hand up from her hip to the bottom of her breast, but before he could keep going the was a strong knock at the door followed by an unknown voice saying,

"Hokage-sama, you're needed immediately."

Groaning Kakashi tore his lips from Sakura and rested his forehead to hers.

"Shit." He murmured.

Slowly he disentangled himself from the woman. She seemed just as dazed as he was and he had to put out a hand to stabilize her when she all but fell down off the counter.

"Kakashi - I..."

"It's okay. I'll, dang it, I'll be back. We'll talk about this-" he said as he gestured between them both, "when I get back."

At her nod he pulled up his ever present mask and made his way to the door, stopping to put his sandles on. He cast one last look back to the pink haired woman who still remained in the same spot before opening the door and taking off to the Hokage Tower.

Sometimes he really hated being the Hokage.

...

When Kakashi arrived at his office he wasn't surprised to see Shikamaru already there. The man had become one of his advisors shortly after he took over as Hokage and had proved himself indispensable in the time that had passed.

"Hokage-sama, there will be a council meeting in fifteen minutes. I'll try to fill you in as we wait for the others to arrive." Shikamaru said as Kakashi moved to seat himself behind the desk.

"Thirty minutes ago we recieved word that a group of rogue ninja had invaded Cloud. The Raikage as been assassinated and the village is currently under the control of the rogues. An emergency Kage summit has been called and will take place in two days in an undisclosed location as of now. During the council meeting you'll need to appoint advisors to go with you to the summit as well as figuring out what guard you'll want to take with you." Pausing for a moment, Shikamaru folded his hand and rested his chin on top of them.

"Civilians have begun to pour out of the village. Right now we don't even have an approximate number, but we do know they're going to need a place to go. My guess is that'll be determined at the Summit."

"What's your opinion on all of this?"

Sighing, Shikamaru rubbed at his eyes.

"I feel like this is just the start. Obviously this was well planned if they were able to dispose of the Raikage that quickly. I have a bad feeling that they won't want to stop at Cloud. It's possible that they had inside help and that means that we could possibly be facing a war with Cloud."

Shutting his eyes, Kakahsi allowed dread to creep it's was into his stomach.

"Hokage-sama, it's in my opinion that we need to be prepared for the worst."

"You're right, Shikamaru-san. After this meeting please alert all ANBU and jounin in the village to be on high alert. I need a list of all chunin and higher who are out of the village on a mission. Those that can be pulled out of their mission, do so. I won't leave this village unprotected while at the Summit."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

The rest of the council began to pour into his office and soon the meeting was underway.

The meeting lasted over two hours and Kakahsi was beyond exhausted. He would be leaving tomorrow at sunset and would travel with two squads of ANBU and four people who would serve as his advisors. Those people would be alerted at sunrise and there would be a meeting at noon to debrief them all. Shikamaru, Ibiki, Genma, and Sakura would travel with him as his advisors; he had already chosen them for the original summit so they would know the roles that they would need to fill.

After everyone left it was well past midnight and all Kakashi wanted to do was crawl into his bed and sleep, but he promised Sakura he would come back and he refused to break any promise he made to her.

It only took him five minutes before he was standing at her door and it was at that moment he almost turned around and left. So much had happened in the past few hours and it almost was enough to completely overwhelm him. He was five seconds away from leaving when the door opened and Sakura peeked her head out.

"Kakashi? I thought that was you. What happened? Why are you just standing outside my door?" She asked as she opened the door wider and moved to let him in.

He moved into the warmth of her apartment and went to sit down on her couch. He felt her move to his side and sat down far enough away that he couldn't actually feel her, but he could feel the warmth her body gave off.

"Cloud was attacked a few hours ago. The Raikage is dead and there will be an emergency Kage Summit in two days." He could feel her shock as she sat up straighter.

"Attacked? By who?"

"Rogue ninja. We think they had inside help so the big worry right now is the possibility of a full scale war against Cloud."

"Surely all of the other hidden villages can retake the Cloud village?"

"In theory, yes. But that's if some of the other villages don't side with Cloud. No one knows how long this attack was planned for and no one knows if any of the other villages knew about it. Hell, this Summit could just be one big set up."

"So what's the plan?"

"The original advisors I selected will accompany me; you included. We'll take two ANBU teams as guards, and I believe I'll have another two teams stay in the shadows."

"Where will it be at?"

"Undisclosed as of now. The Kazekage is the one orchestrating it, so we'll meet with him outside his borders and go from there. I believe he'll send messengers to the other villages at the same time with the location."

"When do we leave?"

Rubbing his eyes, Kakashi pulled down his mask. "Tomorrow at sunset. There will be a meeting tomorrow at noon to go over all the details."

"I guess ten years of peace was too much to ask for, huh? Always did feel like borrowed time."

Laughing slightly without any real humor, Kakashi smoothed a hand through his unruly hair.

"I don't like this at all, Sakura. Something about it just doesn't add up and I won't be able to relax until I know what it is."

"I know, Kakashi. I feel the same way."

Turning, he used a hand to turn Sakura's face towards his.

"Don't leave my side while we're there, Sakura. If I didn't value your opinion so much I'd order you to stay here and never leave, but I value it more than any one else's."

"You know I can take care of myself, Kakashi."

"Doesn't matter. I want to take care of you."

Smiling slightly, she placed a hand over the larger one on her face. "Careful, Kakashi. I might take that the wrong way."

Bringing his free hand to rest behind her head, he murmured, "Maybe that's the plan."

Before he could talk himself out of it, before he could tell himself that this wasn't the time to make rash decisions, he moved in and kissed Sakura's lips.

Unlike earlier in her kitchen, he wasn't gentle or hesitant. He moved her to lay back on the couch and rested above her, his lips never leaving hers. When she gasped at the contact of his body to hers, he used the advantage and deepened the kiss. His tongue tasted wine and something that could only be described as Sakura. He was so lost in her taste that he didn't notice her moving until he felt himself being pushed up and off her her.

Confused, he stared at her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Shut up Kakashi, you have nothing to apologize for. The only reason I stopped is because if this is going to continue then I'd much prefer we move to my bed. So much better than a couch." She said with a sly smile.

Without waiting for her to tell him twice he picked her up off the couch and carried her to her room, enjoying her giggle when he did so.

Maybe they would both regret this in the morning, but at that moment Kakashi couldn't think of one thing he wanted more than to have her in his arms. The memory of what happened six years ago always haunted him and he was eager to replace that memory with one where they were both completely willing and wanting.

...

Ah! Another chapter down! This was sort of a crazy chapter with a long of stuff going on in the middle. The things happening to Cloud are going to be a big part of the story for a while, but rest assured! Plenty of Kakashi/Sakura goodness!

Speaking of which! :o are they actually going to be doing the deed? Guess we'll all find out next chapter!

*evil laughs*

What does everyone think about all the trouble that could be brewing?

By the way, there was some major foreshadowing in the last chapter. Did any one happen to catch on to it?

Oh, and a review left in the last chapter made me think about this - would anyone be interested in a one shot about what happened in the months following the prologue?

Let me know in the reviews!

Until next time!


	6. Chapter 4 part 2 - Your bedroom or mine?

Surprise!

There's a chapter 4.5!

It won't be an extremely long chapter, but hopefully it'll be a fun read.

Enjoy!

...

When Sakura's back hit her bed a tiny sliver of doubt entered into her mind. Was this really where she wanted her relationship with Kakashi to go? Sure, it wasn't the first time they kissed - botch mission excluded - but it was the first time since that day that they made it to this point. Three years ago on New Years they shared a drunken make out session, two years ago on her birthday they almost made it to a bed, and lastly six months ago when she had lost a ANBU team to an at-the-time unknown poison. Every time something always held them back and she use to take that as a sign that they were indeed just meant to be close friends. Then stupid Ino had to open her mouth and put all those ideas she worked so hard to get out of her mind right back in there!

Suddenly Kakashi lifted himself off of her slightly, resting his weight on his forearms next to her head.

"Sakura- are you sure?" His voice was heavy with desire and the sound of it sent an ache right through her gut.

Moving the hand that was resting on his neck she forced him down to meet her lips in a passionate kiss that left them both gasping.

Breaking away just enough so that she could speak, Sakura rolled her hips up to his and said, "I've always been sure, and you better not chicken out on me this time."

Groaning Kakashi bent down and claimed her lips once again, only breaking to pull her shirt up and over her head. She returned the favor and pulled his shirt over his head and gasped at the sensation of skin on skin. His hand ghosted over her torso leaving goosebumps in their wake. She raked her nails down his muscular back, enjoying the way he stiffened as she did so. She had a few lovers since the day she lost her virginity, but none had ever made her feel this way. None had ever made her feel so wanton and she realized that Kakashi may just as well spoil her for any future endeavors; of course if she had her way they would explore whatever this was between them more after everything with Cloud was taken care of.

Shocked out of her musings she found herself pulled up and straddling Kakashi.

"Better not zone out on me" he whispered huskily against her neck.

Guess that was her que to tell her mind to shut up. Smirking, she decided she didn't have a problem with that.

...

Sakura woke with a start.

Something was off and she felt around for the kunai she had on her bedside table. Of course, when she felt around for what should have been a table, her hand instead came into contact with muscular skin.

What? She thought sleepily to herself.

Cracking an eye open she saw silver hair attached to the skin and then remembered everything that had happened last night.

Laying her head back down to where it previously been - nestled right up to Kakashi's back - she thought about everything that had transpired in the past twelve hours.

Not only did she have sex with Kakashi, but he actually stayed the night.

Well, staying the night. A glance at the clock on her nightstand told her that it was only four in the morning. They had eight hours until the Kage Summit briefing.

She couldn't believe Cloud had been taken over by rebels. Remembering that Kakashi had said he believed they had inside help made her wonder if maybe this was something that had been in the works for some time now.

Kakashi rolled over and the sudden movement brought her out of her musings.

Looking up she met his now open eyes and gave him a small smile.

"Whatcha thinking about?" He asked, his voice heavy with sleep.

"Just thinking about Cloud."

Groaning, Kakashi flipped to his back and brought an arm over his eyes.

"You're in bed with me and you're thinking about Cloud?"

Laughing, Sakura scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Worried?" She asked as she drew circles on his chest with her fingers.

Before she could finish her circles, though, she found herself being flipped over with Kakashi now hovering over her.

"There will be plenty of time to think about Cloud in the coming days. Right now I'd much rather you be thinking about my awesome body."

Laughing out loud at that she snaked her arms around his neck.

"You're awesome body, huh?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Hm, I suppose it is an okay body."

He bent down and nipped at her collarbone.

"Ow! Okay!" She said laughing. "You do have a pretty great body."

Leaning up to kiss her jaw he murmured, "I knew you'd think that."

He then captured her lips with his and suddenly, she really didn't care about Cloud. At all.

...

Yay! Nay?

I decided to not make you guys wait until the next full chapter to see if they hooked up or not. ;)

The next two to four chapter will mainly be about Cloud, but don't fear! KakaSaka fluff will be near! Haha.

Oh, and don't forget about Naruto! He isn't done yet!

Until next time!


	7. Chapter 5 - Desserts first?

Hey there all!

Here's chapter five!

Enjoy!

...

Morning brought harsh reality back to Sakura.

One minute she was cuddled to Kakashi's chest and the next she was alone and Kakashi was kissing her temple and telling her he'd see her at the meeting. She refused to read too much into last night. She knew she could easily see herself falling head over heels in love with the man. Heck, she was already half way there and had been for some time.

Sighing, she decided it was time for her to get up as well, and after sitting on her bed staring at the floor for a good five minutes she mustered the energy to head to the bathroom and take a shower. It was a cool morning and the heat from the water felt good on her skin. As she was washing her body she noticed a hicky on her collarbone and it actually made her giggle. She hasn't had a hicky since she was twenty one and had given in to the cute ANBU that had been paired her and Kakashi for a mission. Seeing it made her feel younger than she had felt in a long time and she soaked up all the youth she could because she knew in the coming days she would be going through enough. She brought a hand to the spot and healed it quickly before cleansing the rest of her body.

Once all the suds had been washed off she stepped out of the shower and grabbed the large fluffy black towel she had laid on the counter. Drying herself she made her way back into her room and glanced at the clock; she had killed almost an hour as it was now going on ten. She figured she would take about an hour to eat breakfast and get ready before heading by the hospital to check in before the meeting.

Wrapping herself in her towel she turned the heat up a bit and made her way to her closet to grab some clothes. She usually ended up wearing the same type of outfit: black spandex leggings, black booted sandles, and a long tunic dress that usually had splits down the sides of the bottom. Today she decided on the dark grey tunic so she didn't draw any more attention to herself then needed and began to get dressed.

She knew some people disagreed on how close she was to Kakashi. Laughing a bit to herself, she thought about those people's reactions if they knew how close they were last night.

Many saw her too young to be in such a high position and disliked how familiar she was with him when they were around each other. Don't get her wrong, she knew when to be professional and when to be familiar. She would never call him by his given name in a profession setting, especially one like today would be. She had a feeling she would be calling him Hokage-sama quite a lot in the coming days.

As she blow dried her short hair she thought back to the situation at hand.

Cloud had been invaded.

Was it an inside job? Would the Damiyo sanction whoever they would put in as the new Raikage? Of course, if that were to happen there would be nothing any of the other Kage or villages could do. Doing so, of course, would cause a war and no one would want that.

After she finished getting ready she made her way to the kitchen and made herself some rice, not feeling anything bigger. When the clock on the microwave read eleven oh two Sakura put her bowl in the sink and made her way to the hospital. Once she got there she made her way to her office and checked her emails. Seeing nothing too urgent she picked up her lab coat that proclaimed her position as Head of Medicine.

Might as well wear it, she thought.

She knew that Genma, Ibiki, and Shikamaru would be there, but she was unsure how many people from the council would be there was well. The old bat Kagura always seemed to have it out for her would no doubt worm her way into the meeting. She knew the woman hated her because of her closeness with Kakashi. After all, he did turn her granddaughter down when she approached him a year ago.

That whole family was crazy, if you were to ask her.

At eleven forty she made her way out of the office, stopping to tell her secretary that she would most likely be out of the office until late and to have someone come find her if she was needed at the Hokage's Tower.

When she knocked at Kakashi's door she prepared herself to see him again. When he called for her to enter she opened the door and saw that every council member was already there, along with Ibiki and Shikamaru.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama." She greeted. "Good morning council, Ibiki-san , Shikamaru-san." She nodded at the latter.

"Good morning Sakura-san." Ibiki and Shikamaru greeted in unison.

The council just glared.

Okay then, she thought.

"Good morning, Sakura." Kakashi greeted.

Oh yes, now he gets the glares. Way to be familiar Kakashi, she thought.

"We're waiting on Genma-san, but he should be here soon. I'll try to make this meeting as short as possible, seeing as how most of us will need to pack for our trip." As soon as he finished Genma opened the door and made his way in.

"Genma-san, ever heard of knocking?" He asked.

The man with a senbon in his mouth just scratched his head and said, "yeah?"

Kakashi just shook his head.

"Now that were all here I can go into more details than the messengers who notified you this morning had. Yesterday a group of rogue ninja infiltrated Cloud and assassinated the Raikage. Each of our Damiyo's have called an emergency Kage summit and it will be held tomorrow at a location only know to the Kazekage. Usually the trip to Suna would take three days, but we will be traveling by reverse summons. It will take us from this office to the office of the Kazekage. We will stay the night in Suna and then travel with Gaara-sama and his advisers to the location. The Tsuchikage and the Mizukage will be doing the same with their advisors, but they won't arrive until morning. The meeting is to decide what course of action we will all take. Right now nothing has been sanctioned by Cloud's Damiyo, but that could change before the meeting takes place. If that happens then we will have no other option than to simply wait and see what happens to Cloud." Kakashi paused and took a deep breath.

"I know how easy it will be for everyone to feel that we must attack Cloud and dispose of the rogues, but as of right now we don't even know if this was planned by people on the inside. In my opinion, I believe we need to send in a spy, two at most, and get a feel on what's happening."

Everyone in the room seemed to agree, even the council.

"Okay then, everyone needs to be back here by eight tonight. Pack light, but make sure to bring an official uniform. We should be gone no more than three days at most."

"Hai." Came the acknowledgment from the group.

"Everyone is free to go." Kakashi said.

Sakura made to get up and leave with everyone else until Kakashi asked her to stay behind. She didn't miss the look the council shared before they, too, left.

Sakura glanced to the door as it was closing the final time and before she could look back to Kakashi she felt hands on her shoulders.

"You're awfully tense this morning." He murmured as he began to rub her shoulders.

She felt her head fall forward a bit and her shoulders relax.

"Well, this is a tense situation." She whispered.

"Hm, Cloud?"

"Of course."

Sighing, Kakashi stopped rubbing her shoulders and moved to lean against his desk.

"What are your thoughts?"

Taking a deep breath, Sakura took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"Well, last year we did have reports of a large group of shinobi that suddenly disappeared from Cloud. Do you think it was actually them that attacked?"

"It crossed my mind. If that's the case, then they didn't disappear, but more than likely they were ran off or left before something happened."

"The last medic I spoke with at the conference last year from Cloud seemed jittery. Actually, the whole group seemed on edge."

"So you think the Damiyo will back the new Raikage?" Kakashi mused.

"Possibly. If all that they are doing is taking the old Kage out and putting a new one in I think he will. I think all the other Damiyo's are hoping he will. If not, it could mean a possible war and I don't think anyone wants that to happen."

"No. I can't imagine anyone who remembers the last one would."

"Guess we'll all find out tomorrow." Sakura said.

"I hope we do. I hope that we get to Suna only to find out that there is nothing to figure out. That's the best case scenario."

"Agreed." Sakura nodded along with her words.

"What are your plans for the afternoon?"

"Grab some lunch and then pop into the office and make arrangements for the next few days. I'll come back to a mess, but hopefully not a huge one."

"How about I order some take out and we eat here?"

"Trying to get me alone?" Sakura asked slyly.

Kakashi straightened from his desk and took a step to where Sakura was sitting. He bent down and rested his hands on either side of the chair, effectively trapping Sakura. She felt her heart skip a beat at his proximity.

"Don't I already have you alone?"

Sakura looked up into his eyes and without really thinking she moved her hands up to the edge of his mask. Slowly, she pulled the fabric down, exposing his youthful face.

"What do you plan on doing then?"

Suddenly she felt herself being pulled up from her chair and spun around so that her bottom collided with Kakashi's desk. His arms went in either side of her and her hands rested on his biceps.

"Figured I'd have some dessert before my meal. Wouldn't want to run out of time before dessert." He whispered along her jawline.

"Mm. Good idea."

The next thing she knew Kakashi's lips were on hers and his hands left his desk to rest on her hips. The kiss started out slow, each taking their time to savor the taste of the other's lips.

Her hand moved up from his biceps to rest on his shoulders. Feeling the heavy fabric of his Kage robes she ran her hands along the seems and pushed the offensive material off his shoulders. Kakashi seemed to like her idea because his hands left her hips to allow the robes to fall to the floor. He then returned to her body, only his hands went under her lab coat and rested on her waist. His lips became more insistent and when she opened her mouth she felt him deepen the kiss. She loved the way he tasted; like coffee and something else that could only be Kakashi. One of her hands left his shoulders to thred through his silver hair. She felt one of his hand slide down her body and come to rest on the curve of her hip.

His lips left hers to ghost down her neck, sucking slightly. That earned him a gasp and she felt him smirk against her neck.

A knock came at the door and then the voice of his secretary called in, asking if she still needed to order him lunch.

Kakashi groaned and rested his head on top of hers.

"Please. And order some for Haruno-San as well."

"Of course, Hokage-sama. The usual?" She asked.

"That will be fine. Let me know when it gets here."

Sighing he disengaged himself from Sakura and tried to put some distance between them.

Sakura ran a hand through her hair and straightened her tunic. She saw Kakashi bend down to pick up his robes and put them back on.

Oh my gosh, she thought. I just made out with the Hokage in his office.

...

It wasn't often that Kakashi lost control, but he knew if his secretary hadn't interrupted them he would have taken Sakura in his office.

He glanced at the pink hair woman and watched her eat her food. She had a slight pink stain on her cheeks and it had been there since they were interrupted. He couldn't help but secretly love that it was him that put the blush on her face.

He wasn't sure what in the world was between them, but he knew he wanted to find out. No other woman drove him crazy like she did, and no one else could make him forget himself and his surrounding like her. He knew that now wasn't the time to discuss what was between them, but he was sure of one thing: they would when they got back from Suna.

...

Ah, the plot thickens!

Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and this story so far! I'm enjoying writing it!

Once again, thank you to everyone that has left a review, followed, and favorited this story! Every email

I get letting me know someone had makes me want to write that much more!

Until next time! 3


	8. Chapter 6 - Caught in the act

Hey all, it's me again and I have chapter six with me! Haha.

I just want to take a few moments and address something:

If you're going to leave a review, especially a pure hate one, be brave enough to leave a name so I can address you.

So dear "guest",

It's fine if you don't like Sakura/ Kakashi pairing. If it's not your cup of tea, that's fine, but please refrain from telling me so. I obviously DO support it, at least in fanfiction. It probably has to do with the fact that I'm 27 and Kakashi is my major anime crush. He only gets better with age 3 Sakura is always so fun to write, so why not pair them together? I know it's not canon. I also don't care. It's all make believe so I can make believe whatever I want in my own fanfiction.

Anyways, I hope you have a great day and find some great Sakura Sasuke stories.

Peace,

XSakuraBlossomPrincessX

Also, if anyone's going to just leave a review that tells me to "kill myself" please just hit the back button and don't bother. Nothing makes me more angry than stuff like that, because it could actually send someone over the edge. I've personally lost a family member to suicide and it is devastating. It's been over a year and it's still affecting my family. I want this story to be a place of fun, not anything like that.

Also, please, if you're feeling suicidal get help. Every one of you is special and life gets so much better. Life at 17 and life at 27 is so different for me. It really does get better. 3

Disclaimer: I don't actually own Naruto. I only own my plot. Dang it all.

...

It was after two when Sakura finally made it back to the hospital. As soon as she walking through the doors a medic that she couldn't place ran up to her and told her a chunin team had just been brought in and they needed her supervision. She was pleasantly surprised at how the medics on duty handled everything; she knew that the training program that she implemented two year prior was working.

After everyone that had been brought in was stabilized Sakura retreated to her office and began the process of organizing everything. She begun signing off on the charts that had been placed on her desk when she glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that it was well past six.

Crap, she thought. She only had two hours to eat and pack.

She quickly finalized then charts, grabbed her lab coat, and made her way home.

When she arrived she quickly grabbed her best travel bag and began to throw clean undies in there. She packed an extra bra and three pairs of leggings along with two sets of pjs - she usually just slept in a shirt and her undies anyways. Looking through her tunics she took three off the hangers and packed them as well. After she packed up her toiletries she opened up the safe that she kept her weapons in. It felt odd to strap on her kunai holder to her leg, but good. Usually she didn't bother, but who knew what would happen in the next few days.

Of course, that's not to say she was ever unarmed. After all, her best weapon was herself and she always carried her gloves with her. This trip would be no exception.

She had just glanced at the clock and saw that it was now seven when she heard a knock at her door. She made her way to look through the peep hole and saw, to her surprise, that Kakashi was outside her door.

When she opened the door she saw that he didn't come empty handed; he had takeout in his hand. Her stomach rumbled at the sight.

"I didn't think you'd leave yourself enough time to eat anything substantial so I brought Chinese."

She backed away from the door and let him in, only when the door shut she took the bag of takeout from him and reached up to pull his mask down. She grinned when he looked a little off kilter at her actions and put her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his in a brief kiss.

Breaking away she kissed his cheek and said, "You are seriously the best, Kakashi. I'm starving and I was wondering how I would have time to eat anything more than rice."

Smirking, something that he did that still shocked her - who would have taken Kakashi to me a smirker? - Kakashi wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her temple.

"You're too predictable, Sakura-chan."

Pulling away she gave him a grin and picked up the bag and moved into the kitchen. She pulled out two plates and sat them on the counter. Kakashi had already moved to open the bag and he began dishing out the contents on the plates.

"I'm already packed so after we eat we can head to your office." Sakura said around her bite of chicken.

"Good. I want to be there before the others arrive. We should be reverse summoned at eight fifteen so we have a little leeway."

"I'm assuming we'll have a small meeting with Gaara-sama when we get there?"

Swallowing his bite Kakashi nodded.

"I believe so. Nothing too long or too major, but it'll be good to hear his opinion on all of this."

"Agreed. He's the only other Kage I trust. His opinion is one I want to hear."

Nodding, Kakashi finished up his last bit of rice before putting his plate into the sink. Taking a deep breathe, he decided to breach the subject that had been on his mind all day.

"Sakura? I need to ask you something."

Looking up from her food she said, "What is it?"

"What exactly are we doing?"

Chewing slowly she swallowed and asked, "You mean us or Cloud?"

"Us."

Sighing slightly, she moved to put her plate in the sink as well.

"Would you believe me if I said I don't know? Honestly, I never meant for last night to happen, but I don't regret it. Do you?"

A small smile graced his lips at her answer. "No, I don't regret it at all."

"Look, Kakashi, it not like our relationship has ever been normal. We've always been closer than what friends should be, even before that mission, but especially afterwards. You're the one person I trust completely and I can't imagine a life without you in it."

"I can't imagine a life without you either, Sakura."

"Maybe we should just see where this goes. I know we can't really right now, but when we get back?"

She looked so cute and inviting when she looked at him like that and he couldn't help but move to pull her into a hug.

"You betcha. Just promise me one thing?"

Looking up to his face she asked him what that thing was.

"No matter what happens, be honest with me. I can't lose you because of something stupid I said."

Smiling, she nodded. "I promise."

...

At eight fifteen on the dot the group of five was transported to the office of Suna's Kazekage. Sakura thought it was the most odd feeling in the world and was glad that it was over almost as soon as it started.

Once they all got ahold of their bearings, Gaara stood from his seat behind his massive desk and greeted them.

"Welcome. I wish we could have gathered together under better circumstances, but none the less, I'm glad you're all here."

Moving to shake Kakashi's hand, Gaara then turned to the rest of the group. "I have rooms set up for you all, so I hope you can have a decent nights sleep. I'll have someone come and make sure you are all up at nine in the morning. The other two Kage's will be here at ten and then we'll all move to the summit's location."

"Have you heard any more word yet, Gaara-sama?" Kakashi asked.

Shaking his head, he motioned for them all to have a seat and then moved to take his own seat.

"No, nothing. Everything has been almost too quiet. After we received reports of the group of civilians fleeing we then had another report come in that those weren't normal civilians - they were the old Raikage's council. We've had no more reports of any more civilians fleeing."

Shifting to rest his arms in his knees, Shikamaru mused, "So either they can't get out, or they don't want to. Any news of killings?"

Resting his arms on his desk, Gaara answered, "No. We've had no reports what so ever. We also don't know what happened to the old council after they fled. It's like they simply dropped off the radar."

"No demands or war threats?" Ibiki asked.

"None. It's too quiet. It's possible they are waiting on word from the Damiyo. If that's the case, then it seems to me that this was an inside job."

"That's what I'm leaning towards. Do we know what Cloud was like prior to the takeover?" Ibiki asked.

"Bad. After the old Raikage passed everything became very shut off. I believe they were running low on food and resources because of the low mission rates."

"Or because the Raikage wanted all the money for himself." Sakura spoke up for the first time.

Turning towards her, Gaara nodded.

"It's possible. I'd say both were factors. Greedy leader and lack of mission intake."

"So, what exactly will be we doing if the Damiyo doesn't sanction the new leader?" Genma asked, his ever present senbon moving as he spoke.

"I believe we are all in agreement that we do not want a war on our hands. If the Damiyo doesn't approve then he will most likely be sending in his own personal team to dispose of the new Raikage. Of course, if that doesn't work, he will more than likely ask the other Damiyo's for help."

"Which means certain war." Genma said.

"Yes. I don't know what everyone else is thinking, but I have a plan if that were to happen."

"And that is?" Kakashi asked.

"Dispose of him or her before war can happen."

"Wouldn't that just cause a war anyways?" Sakura asked.

"Not if they can't trace who did it." Kakashi answered.

"Exactly. Their mission would be simple; get in, kill the Raikage, and get out. Of course, I hope it doesn't come to that, but we need to be prepared for worst case scenario."

"What about the other two Kage? Do you think they will be behind your plan?" Shikamaru asked.

"I believe so. I may not trust them completely, but I do trust their resolve to prevent war at all cost."

They all seemed to agree on that. After a moment, Gaara said, "I believe that's all we need to discuss tonight. I'll have someone show you all to your rooms. I'll see everyone in the morning."

At that a knock came at the door and after being told to enter, a woman emerged. She was dressed as a maid of sorts and Gaara told them that she would be showing them to their rooms.

After they made their way to the elevator and when up to the seventh floor they were shown their individual rooms. Sakura's room was besides Genma's and across from Shikamaru's. Kakashi's was besides Genma's and across from Ibiki's.

They all said their goodnights, and then Kakashi asked Sakura to stay in the hallway. Everyone else retreated to their rooms and the maid left.

Sakura leaned up against her door and gave Kakashi a sly smile.

"Need to tell me anything, Hokage-same?" She asked.

Kakashi moved until he was less than an inch away from her.

"There's a lot to tell you, but I do believe this isn't the time." He said in the same tone Sakura had used. He glanced up and saw that they were still alone, then he pulled his mask down and moved to press his lips to Sakura's. His hands went to her hips and hers went to his shoulders.

"Goodnight, Sakura-chan."

He murmured to her lips.

...

Kakashi had been in his room for about thirty minutes when he heard a knock on his door. He got out of bed, where he had been reading his favorite edition of Icha Icha, and opened the door. He was surprised to see Genma on the other side, but never the less he stood back and let him in his room.

"So, what brings you here?" Kakashi asked as he sat down on his bed and picked his book back up. He was at the good part, dang it.

"Well, you see, after I went into my room I remembered I had to tell Shikamaru something. Imagine my surprise when I opened my door and saw you all over our dear, sweet, innocent Sakura-chan." He said with the biggest grin.

Kakashi looked up, stunned, and his book fell out of his hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He said with what he hope was an air of indifference.

Genma let out a bark of laughter at that.

"Oh, don't even try to play innocent with me. I know what I saw and I'm pretty sure it wasn't nothing. So tell me, how long have you been boinking our resident Head of Medicine?"

Putting his poor forgotten book aside, he ran a hand down his face.

"Boinking? Since when do you use words like that?"

Pulling the chair away from the desk that occupied the left wall of his room, Genma turned it around and straddled it. "Since the twins started saying words and Ino threatened me with castration if I said the word that rhymes with "yuck". I would prefer to be able to still have another kid, so I figured boink was as good of a word as any."

"It's still weird to think of you as a father, Genma."

Chuckling, Genma fiddled with the senbon in his mouth. "It's still weird to BE a father. But hey, maybe soon I'll have sometime join me in the Fatherhood Club."

"Drop it Genma."

"Hey now, before it was all in good fun. At least, for me it was, but after what I saw a little bit ago? Hm, I think Ino was right for once."

"Right about what?" Kakashi almost didn't want to hear the answer.

"That you'd knock Sakura up before the end of the year." He said with a grin.

Kakashi couldn't help but smack his face into his palms. Genma caused him to literally face palm.

"So that's what Sakura was talking about." He murmured to himself.

"What was that?" Genma asked.

"Nothing. Ino actually thinks I would knock up Sakura?"

"Oh yeah. Let's see, it's February now, so you could actually not only knock her up by the end of the year, but she could already have your kid by then."

"Don't even go there, Genma."

Genma just laughed.

"Look, all I'm saying is Sakura is the only one you've let in. Hey, I'm being serious here." He said as Kakashi made to interrupt him. "I'm saying this because you're the closest thing I have to a brother; Sakura is perfect for you. She gets you in a way I don't even get you. Yeah, she young, but so is Ino. Women like them are mature beyond their years, especially after everything they've been through. So I'll tell you this once - don't let Sakura slip away. You've suffered enough in this life, find a bit of happiness while you still can. And hey, I'll also say this - you don't know love until you hold a child you made with the one you love. When you look at that baby and you know it's a part of you and a part of her, man, it's indescribable."

Kakashi really had no word for his friend. What could he possibly say? He never thought about things like children before, but at Genma's words he could help but envision a child with his hair and her eyes. Dang Genma, this was the last thing he needed to be thinking about right now.

"Anyways, just thought I'd let you know I saw you so you can't hide it from me now. Might as well tell Sakura to let Ino in on it as well, because I've never been good at keeping anything from her. I'll leave you to sleep and dream of little silver haired babies." And with that, Genma put the chair back at the desk and left Kakashi's room.

It didn't look like he would be getting any sleep now.

...

I just love Genma and Ino 3 haha

Anyways, thank everyone for all your reviews, follows, and favorites. It's the good reviews that make the negative ones fall away.

Let me know what y'all think so far in the reviews!

Until next time!


	9. Chapter 7 - Moonlight kisses

Hey there all!

I come bearing chapter 7!

Hang on tight, because a lot will be happening in this chapter!

Enjoy!

...

Kakashi was dreaming.

He knew it had to be a dream, mostly because he lived in an apartment and not a house.

He was walking up the path to the front door and he noticed that there was a swing hanging on a big tree that as off to the side of the house. He moved through the front door and took his sandals off and placed them by the set of boots by the entrance. Next to the boots were sandals small enough to fit a toddler and a pair that seemed to fit a child of five or six. He heard laughter coming from down the hall so he walked to see who was laughing. When he made it to what was the kitchen he saw Sakura holding the small hands of a young girl. The girl was taking small, unsure steps toward a boy that had to be about five. Sakura looked up when he came into the room and gave him a brilliant smile.

"Look Kakashi! She's walking!"

It was then he noticed that the boy had silver hair and green eyes. The girl had pink hair and dark eyes.

They were his children.

His children with Sakura.

Kakashi woke up with a start and sat bolt upright in bed.

He was going to kill Genma, that's all there was to it. He would kill him and burn the body and no one would ever find him. He deserved it, after all. All night he had dreamed of kids and Sakura and houses. He wasn't the type to have kids. Kids were a responsibility. Kids could get hurt and what then? He could barely handle having Sakura close to him and at least she could defend herself. He worried, but not as much as before. She was a strong woman and a formable fighter.

Kids, though?

No. No way.

Running a hand down his face, Kakashi tried to clear his mind of little girls with his eyes and Sakura's hair. Of little boys with his hair and Sakura's eyes.

Nope. Not gonna happen.

He looked at the clock on the table besides his bed and saw that it was only three in the morning. There was still six hours until they all needed to be up. He didn't think he could go back to sleep, but at the same time he didn't want to just sit and the dark and allow his thoughts to get the better of him.

He slid out of the sheets and made his was to the door that led to a balcony. The Kazekage really outdid himself with their rooms. He would have to remember that next time he came to Konoha.

Deciding that the cool night air might help he opened the door and stepped out into the night.

If he was hoping to be alone, he was wrong, though. As he turned to the left he saw that apparently Sakura couldn't sleep either. She stood at the railing, het short hair mussed by sleep and her body was covered by a pair of black pjs. He wasn't sure if he should go back into his room and give her privacy, or if he should call over to her.

Curiosity got the better of him, and he found himself moving over to the edge of his balcony's railing.

"Little late to be up, isn't it Sakura-chan?" He asked.

Startled, she jumped slightly before turning to the side to face him.

"Same could be said for you, Hokage-sama." She replied cheekily.

Smiling to himself, he easily jumped over into Genma's balcony and then jumped to Sakura's.

He had the thought that these balconies could be pretty dangerous.

Sakura leaned against the railing, her back facing Suna. Kakashi couldn't help but think she looked beautiful in the desert moonlight.

"Who said you could come over?" She asked as he crowded her personal space.

Shrugging his shoulders he placed an arm on either side of the woman, a small thrill going through him when she wrapped her arms around his neck and teased the hair on his nape.

"Can't have such a pretty woman look so lonely."

Smiling softly, she looked up into his eyes and moved to her tip toes so she could whisper in his ear.

"And you plan on making me less lonely?"

He captured her lips before she could get the last word out, roughly moving his across hers. Her moan encouraged him and he took a step closer to her, his body now brushing hers. He felt her nails drag down his neck and he discovered how much he loved that sensation.

He began to take steps back towards her room, pulling the pink haired woman with him. He broke their kiss long enough to bend down and scoop her up on his arms. Her feminine laughter thrilled him to the core. He carried her to the bed and slowly lowered her down onto the soft sheets. He kneeled above her, taking in her kiss swollen lips and her eyes glazed with desire. He slowly began unbutton her pajama top, taking in the smooth pale skin. When he was halfway done he realized she wore no bra and he could help but to bend down and kiss a line down the middle of her chest.

He finished with her top, pulling her up slightly to remove the clothing article completely from her body. She reached for the bottom of his shirt and pulled it over his head, running her hands slowly up his sides as she did so. He moved her to lay down and covered her body with his. She pulled his head down to meet her waiting lips.

The last coherent thought he had was how happy he could be to be able to have her this close to him every night.

...

Morning came all to quick for Sakura's taste. Kakashi had left some time after seven, not wanting to be found in her room like a teenager. She had laughed slightly at that, finding him sneaking down the hallway to his room highly amusing. She had gone back to sleep after that, but now she was jarred awake as a knock sounded at her door followed by a voice telling her that it was nine. She groaned and rolled over, wanting to sleep a little longer. She laid on her stomach for a few minutes before deciding she might as well get up and face the day.

Pulling herself out of bed she made her way to the attached bathroom and started the water for a shower. The last thing she needed was to reek of sex. That would be slightly awkward.

Standing under the hot water was soothing and she took the time to think about the upcoming meeting. Mist and Rock would be arriving soon. She was eager to get everything settled so she could get back to Konoha. She felt a dark threat looming and it worried her.

Everyone had lived in relative peace for the past ten or so years. It felt as if they had reached their allotted limit of time and now everything could very well fall to pieces.

Taking a deep breathe she finished her shower and stepped out into the cool air of the bathroom. Shivering she hurriedly dried herself off and made her way back into the room. She dressed and blowdried her hair in record time. Deciding to forgo makeup she applied lip balm and strapped her kunai holder to her thigh and tucked her gloves into her pouch at her hip.

Happy with everything, she then made her way out of her room. Genma and Kakashi stood down the hall, seemingly in deep discussion. Shikamaru emerged from his room after her and together they made their way to the two older men.

"Morning." She greeted. Kakashi smiled at her through his mask and Genma offered her a wave.

"Where's Ibiki?" She asked.

"He went down to talk to some people in interrogation. You know how he is. He'll be meeting is in Gaara-sama's office shortly." Kakashi answered.

Together, they all made their way down to the Kazekage's office. When they arrived they were greeted by his secretary and were waves through into Gaara's office.

Once they had all made their way in the Kazekage looked up and greeted them.

Gaara was about to tell them he would be summoning Mist and Rock soon when the building was rocked with a great shake. Dust exploded outside the window and explosions could be heard from outside. A man came running in the office without knocking.

"Kazekage-sama! It's cloud! They're attacking!"

Both Gaara and Kakashi were pulling their robes off, leaving them in their normal shinobi clothing.

"Shit." Sakura would have been shocked at Gaara's language if she hadn't been in such shock at the attack on Suna.

The man disappeared through the door and the group was alone once again.

"It was a set up. They knew. Some how, some way, they knew we would be here and the other villages would not." Shikamaru said, his brain already formulating a plan.

Sakura was pulling her gloves out of her pouch and she noticed Genma flicking a kunai from his holder.

"We need to-" whatever Kakashi was going to say was cut off as the door burst open again, this time reveling three men who's headbands proclaimed them as Cloud ninja.

"Pretty pathetic how easy it was to get up here." One with black hair mocked.

"Just as easy as it was to get to the Raikage. Oh look, the Hokage is here too. Goody, we won't have to search for him!" The one with sandy hair said gleefully.

"Shut up you two. Take care of business then get cocky." The other third of the group said. This one had brown hair and a stocky build.

"What exactly do you think will happen here?" Genma asked menacingly.

"What do I think will happen? Simple. We'll dispose of these two Kage just like we did in cloud. It will be so easy to take over Konoha when they hear of their beloved Hokage's death." The black haired ninja gleamed.

Sakura noticed sand slowly trickle out of the gourd Gaara had strapped to his back. She knew that these men had no idea who they were messing with. The old Raikage had been old, these two were in their prime.

"Sakura, once we clear you a path please head down to the hospital. While our medics have greatly improved, your experience and knowledge will be the difference between life and death for many of my shinobi. Take Genma with you." Gaara asked without looking at her.

Knowing that no answer was needed, she simply waited for the men to act.

Suddenly the room was full of sand so thick she couldn't see two inches in front of her. The Cloud shinobi were roughly thrown into the wall and she felt Genma grab her arm and drag her to the door. She spared one last look back at Kakashi and saw both his sharingan eyes blazing. She mentally pleaded with him to stay alive, then turned away and focused on her task at hand. As they ran down the hallway Sakura was thankful they were on the second floor and not higher because there was fighting all around and she knew there was no way they could make it out of the actual door.

"Genma, we have to make an exit ourselves."

"Go ahead and do your thing."

He said with a grin.

Sakura ran up to a wall and gathering her chakra to her fist she pulled back and then thrust her fist through the wall, shattering a small hole. She grinned to herself. She still had it.

"Come on, don't get cocky yet."

Genma yelled over to her as they both made their way through the hole, jumping down onto the street.

"The hospital is this way!" She said, pointing to a tall building down the street.

"Lead the way." Genma said as they both took off running.

In no time they made it to their destination and as soon as they moved through the door they were greeted with the shocked faces of the staff.

"Well don't just stand there!" She yelled to them. Recognition dawned on the staff and they they began to clear out room for the incoming wounded.

Sakura took a deep breath and closed her eyes for the briefest moment. It had been over a decade since she had been in this type of situation and she had to push her nerves aside. She was no longer a green teenager thrust into war, she was a veteran. She could do this, even in an unfamiliar hospital.

"Who's in charge here." She asked the medics.

"I am." A dark haired man said.

She didn't recognize the man, but she could tell he knew of her.

"Okay, the Kazekage asked me to give you guys a hand. I'll try to handle the major cases, but if I do I can't do much else. Genma, will you help them protect the hospital?"

Genma nodded, moving to the group or shinobi that had gathered at the entrance.

"If you can save any of our people, we'll all be greatly indebted to you."

Sakura nodded.

It was time to get to work.

...

There were few times Kakashi could say he was actually scared, but watching Sakura leave and make her way out into the midst of all the fighting put fear into his gut. He knew he couldn't focus on it though, as he needed to take care of these men before he could go to her.

"Gaara-sama, how about we finish this quickly?" He asked.

Gaara gave him one of the deadliest smiled he had ever seen on the younger man.

"Let's."

Shikamaru just grumbled about how troublesome this all was, before shadows headed towards the sandy hair man.

Cloud may have fallen, but he'd be damned if he allowed Suna and Konoha to succumb as well.

...

Ah! Suna's been attacked! We finally have some action!

Wonder who's trying to take over all the hidden villages? Does Rock and Mist know what's going on?

Guess y'all will have to wait until the next chapter!

Muwhahahahahahaha.

Anyways, I can't remember if Kakashi kept both of the sharingan Obito gave him, but I liked the idea of him still having them - so he does in this story. Just FYI.

Also, because I can't believe all the reviews I've been getting I decided that when I hit 50 reviews that I'll write an OVA of sorts for this story. It'll either be about a mission Kakashi and Sakura went on in ANBU, about the night they finally spoke about the mission in the first chapter, or about the time they first kissed. Let me know in the reviews which one y'all would rather read!

Until next time!


	10. Chapter 8 - Quick actions needed

Hello again!

I hope everyone is having a great Sunday!

I hope everyone enjoys chapter 8!

There's an AN at the end with some information that I think y'all will want to read!

Without further ado, I give you chapter 8!

...

Akino hadn't been the head medic for long, but he had years of experience, at least in his own mind. He remembered the Fourth Great Shinobi War, but he had only been sent out at the tail end, but once again, he HAD fought. He wasn't a coward by any means, but when he heard the explosions his first instinct had been to run.

Then came the pink haired woman and all that went right out of the window. He couldn't be shown up by some petite woman with PINK hair. He'd heard of her, sure. Who hadn't, really.

The only girl on team seven, student to the fifth Hokage, ex member on ANBU - partnered to none other than Hatake Kakashi, and currently the Head of Medicine at Konoha Hosital.

He thought she was chalked up to be more than what she really was.

But that was his opinion.

He was thankful, though, that the Kazekage had sent her over.

He wouldn't admit that. He wouldn't.

Would he admit he would be in her debt for saving his fellow villagers lives? Of course!

But thankful because he had no idea what to do for major multiple wounded shinobi?

No. He'd never admit to that.

He glanced over at the woman and saw her healing a young man, probably no older than fifteen. He had a gaping wound in his stomach, the kind that would kill. Sakura was bent over him, hands glowing green, as she pumped chakra into the teen. Slowly the wound began to heal closed, and before his eyes what use to be a hole was now a faint pink line. He knew it could be done, had done so himself, but after an hour of healing wounded after wounded? No way. It just wasn't possible.

He looked back to Sakura's face and for the first time noticed the black lines that ran down from the diamond shaped tattoo thing on her forehead. He vaguely remembered hearing something about a Yin Seal that Tsunada and her student had; the thing that enabled them to be the only medic nins that could fight in battle.

Maybe that's why she's able to keep going, he thought to himself. He would look farther into it after everything settled down.

Speaking of settling down, thankfully it seemed that the attack was over. There hadn't been any more explosions and the influx of shinobi had ebbed. Akino finally turned back to his patient and studied the wound on the woman's shoulder. It was slight, and it shouldn't take him long to heal at all. He placed a glowing hand near the cut and began the process of healing the woman. This, he could handle.

After he finished he went back to the central desk. The waiting room off to the side was now empty and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Don't take a breath just yet, Akino-san. The fighting may seem to be over, but those that aren't seriously wounded will start trickling in."

He turned to the woman speaking and saw that Sakura had joined him.

"Surely there can't be too many more."

Giving the man a smile she laid her hand on his shoulder. "It would be nice, but highly unlikely. Take this time to grab a soldier pill and pass them out to the others. We have a long day ahead of us."

Akino resisted the urge to groan, but barely. This wasn't what he expected when he became Head Medic. Maybe he should have thought everything through a little more.

...

Sakura was disappointed, to say the least. She expected more out of the Head Medic, but it seemed like he was cut out for the paper part of medicine, not actually treating patients.

Sighing, she surveyed the area of the hospital that they were using. It was a mess. Blood was all over the floor, people were scattered in all open areas, and all the medics and nurses seemed to be completely done. Suna needed to step up their medic training, that she knew. While she understood that no one was use to this type of thing anymore, they had still only been going at it for a little over an hour. She knew the second wave was due to hit at any time and who knew what kind of injuries would come with them?

"Here, Sakura-chan. You look like you could use it."

Turning, Sakura saw Genma had come up behind her and he had a bottle of water in his hand. She took it gratefully and drained the bottle in record time.

"Thanks Genma. That's just what I needed."

"They're a mess, aren't they?"

Groaning, she rubbed a hand down her face. "They are. I've seen more organization on the battlefield than I have here."

Genma gave her a quick side hug. "Hang in there. The fighting is over it seems."

"That just means more people will be pouring in."

Genma laughed at her tired face. "Hey, at least you have that freaky seal on your forehead. I lost count of all the people you've healed already."

"I haven't used this thing in years. It feels odd, to be honest."

"That's what slowing down does to us. I'll take running after my twins any day."

Sakura was about to answer when three men came bursting in through the doors, heavily bleeding.

Time to get back to work, she thought.

...

Kakashi was tired.

They had easily defeated the three Cloud shinobi before meeting up with Ibiki. After that it had been non stop trying to push all the intruders back. They had managed to round a few up for interrogation, which Ibiki had gleefully volunteered to help with.

Cloud had been a mess. How they had been overtaken so easily by the rouges now made perfect sense, as did the fact that the rouges didn't seem to be with them. It was almost like they wanted for them to fail.

Gaara had left the group to head back to what was left of his office. He didn't envie the man, or what he would have to deal with in the times to come.

The damages seemed to mainly be contained to the central area of Suna. It didn't seem like any residential areas were affected.

"This was a test."

He turned to the man speaking.

"What do you mean, Shikamaru-san?"

"They were testing us. Maybe the troops sent here didn't know that, but I guarantee that's what the point was. Think about it. They could test the strength of Suna and while they were at it, test the strength of Konoha's Hokage. We're next."

"Like hell we are. I know you already have a plan, so spit it out." Kakashi said.

"We need to be proactive. They won't expect us to attack quickly, but that's exactly what we have to do. We need to get back to Konoha and formulate an attack plan. It needs to be carried out in less than a week. We need to ask Gaara-sama to send any spare ANBU he can. We attack together and we speak to no one about it. Even if Rock and Mist aren't part of Cloud's attack, they knew it was happening. That's why they didn't plan on arriving until this morning. My guess is they were told to stay out of they didn't want to be attacked as well."

"We need to figure out who's really behind all of this."

"Capture the man they have in change of Cloud. We need to get him to talk. Using that village is only a cover for something else."

Kakashi felt his brain begin to hurt. This has spiraled into a mess quicker than it began, and it only seemed to be getting worse.

"Shikamaru-san, please go gather your things and leave immediately for Konoha. Begin to make plans.I know you can make it back in a day and a half and I'll send Genma to meet up with you when I find him. Ibiki will stay here until they can finish the interrogation. Sakura and I will leave tomorrow at sunrise. She'll need the night to recover as I'm sure she's over done it; she'll heal and heal until she passes out. I'll speak with Garra-sama in the meantime. It's Wednesday, plan to have to teams move out by Saturday. We do this quick and silent. I only want one team to know of our plans to take the leader. ANBU team six will do. They need to leave Friday night and scout out the area before the rest get there. We need to get to the bottom of this ASAP."

"Hai, Hokage-sama. Be safe."

Kakashi nodded at the younger man before he jumped away. After he lost sight of Shikamaru he turned and began to make his was to the hospital to check on Sakura.

It only took him a few minutes before he was walking through the doors. He found Sakura, her Yin Seal released, healing a young woman.

To some, there would be nothing attractive about her at that moment. Her hair had been pulled back out of her face, there was blood all over her clothes and arms, black lines ran all over her face, and she looked exhausted.

But to Kakashi? Well, he had never seen a more beautiful sight before. She exuded strength and compassion. She was focused on her task and never broke concentration, pumping healing chakra into the woman until all her wounds had closed. She gave her a weak smile, before pulling a sheet up to the woman's chest and murmuring to her. She took a few steps away and began to sway. Kakashi was by her side in no time, placing an arm around her and allowing her to lean into him. She gave him a grateful smile and rested her head on his shoulder. "You're okay." She whispered.

He gave her a kiss to the side of the head and squeezed her reassuringly. "Can't get rid of me that easy. You, on the other hand, look ready to drop."

"Three hours of trauma surgeries will do that to you."

"You released your seal."

"Had to. There were people to save."

"You give to much." He said as he guided her to a chair. After he sat her down her sunk down besides her. She leaned back into him, the last bit of her energy draining fast.

"Sakura, there's a lot we need to discuss. I sent Shikamaru back to Konoha. We need to leave in the morning at sunrise. Ibiki will follow after they all get finished interrogating some of the Cloud shinobi we captured."

"It's bad, isn't it?"

"Yes. I'll fill you in more when we head out. You need rest."

"I will soon. I still have a few more things I need to take care of here."

"Sakura, you can't even stand."

"Then I'll take a quick nap and recharge."

"Our rooms are still intact. How, I'm not sure, but they are. I'll take you back there and let you rest, I need to speak to Gaara anyways."

Sakura finally nodded to that, knowing he was right. She was exhausted and trying to carry the slack of the other medics had caused her to drain her chakra quicker than normal. Actually, now that she thought about it, she still shouldn't be this drained.

"Come on then, we need to find Genma. I'll send him to catch up to Shikamaru."

Kakashi rose and helped Sakura up. He was worried about how tired she looked. He knew she had been doing a lot, but he had seen her do so much more and not be nearly as tired. He doubted she would be going back to the hospital unless she did a complete 360.

"Akino!" She called to the dark haired man passing by.

"Yes, Sakura-sama?" He asked. He spared Kakashi a glance before looking back to the pink haired woman by his side.

"I'm leaving you in charge. Everything has seemed to slack off, so you should all be good. Try to take turns resting. I'll check back in after a few hours."

The man nodded, and thanked Sakura for all her help. He then turned and went back to the room he was headed to.

"Okay, let's go. Genma should be right outside."

Kakashi nodded. He felt a deep down gut feeling to get Sakura somewhere to rest. His worry for her fatigue was getting worse the more exhausted she become. This wasn't normal for her, but he had to push that aside for now. They needed to take care of business and head back to Konoha. His village depended on their actions.

...

Somewhere outside of Suna...

"Yes, I know. They were stronger than originally thought, but no matter. These ninja were disposable; when they feel the attack of our real troops they will see all they care for crumble to the ground." The man with black hair said to his companion.

Yes, when Suna and Konoha felt their real power they could crumble. He couldn't wait.

They would all pay for what they had done; Konoha for their direct actions and Suna for supporting them. He would enjoy watching them fall.

"Do you think they will figure it out before we can attack?" His companion asked.

"No. They won't see it coming. They won't see it coming until they watch all their loved ones die."

And die they would. Every one of them.

...

Ah! Who could be behind all this?!

And what's wrong with Sakura? Poor thing.

Anyways, thanks so much for reading! For all the reviews, follows, and favorites!

Because this story reached 50 reviews I'll be doing an OVA!

Yay!

I decided that I'll do another one when we hit 75 reviews and another when we hit 100 - so that means I'll be doing all three of the choices I gave in the last chapter.

First up, what happened after the mission in the prologue!

Then I'll do an ANBU mission Kakashi and Skaura did, and then finally one about their first kiss!

Wooooo!

I'll be posting them as one shots, so look out for them!

Thanks again guys!

Until next time!


	11. Chapter 9 - Bring on the rain

Hey there all! I'm back and with me is chapter nine! Woooo!

It's been, like, a week since my last update of this story. It's been a crazy week and shew, I'm glad it's over!

I'm glad you guys liked the OVA I posted earlier this week.

Squeee!

It was so much fun to write!

Anyways, enough of my rambling!

Enjoy!

...

Sakura and Kakashi had arrived back in Konoha late Friday afternoon.

Kakashi immediately took off to the Hokage Tower to meet with Shikamaru. He had filled her in on what was happening on the way back to their home and she had already started thinking about the inevitable incoming traumas that would be flooding in. She hoped it would be minimal, but it was better to plan for a tornado and only end up with a thunderstorm.

At least, that's what she thought.

The journey home had taken more out of her than it usually did. All she wanted to do was go home and crawl into her lovely bed, but instead she headed to the hospital after she separated from Kakashi.

Kakashi. That was a subject that she should be pushing far away from her mind, but it seemed to be the only thing she wanted to think about.

She wasn't sure what they were exactly, but she knew she wanted more of whatever it was. Waking up in his arms for three mornings in a row had spoiled her. The thought of being without him made her heart drop, but she refused worry about it. She was twenty seven years old and he was a forty one year old man. They were WELL past acting childish and being afraid to admit what they felt. Sakura had lost too much to let what could be the best thing to happen to her get away, especially because she was too afraid to admit what she felt.

She knew what she felt. She knew exactly what she felt and she was pretty certain she knew what Kakashi felt as well.

Sakura stopped her silent musings when she stepped through the doors of the hospital. It felt so good to be back in an environment that she was familiar with; she could almost kiss the ground.

Almost.

She greeted people as she made her way up to her office, stopping at her secretary's desk to ask her to notify the on call medics for the next day that she would be holding a meeting at eight am. Kakashi and she had decided that they would tell the medics three hours after the ANBU teams had left so they could be prepared for what could possibly be a bloodbath.

Lord, she hoped it wouldn't come to that.

After all the talks with Gaara and both of their respective Damiyo's had ended, they had agreed that everyone who chose to stand with the new Raikage would be treated as an enemy of both Suna and Konoha. They would either be killed on sight, or if they were important enough, they would be taken back to Konoha for interrogation. Ibiki was due back in the village some time in the night, so he would be preparing as well. They planned on taking the Raikage alive, so the ANBU Interrogation Head would be needed.

Sakura began making plans and lists as soon as she sat down at her desk and she was so caught up in her work that she didn't notice the time pass until it was well past eight. She tiredly rubbed at her eyes and decided to call it a day; she needed rest and had to be up early the next day. She wanted to get to the hospital by six the next morning to finalize plans before the meeting.

As she left the hospital her stomach rumbled and she realized she hadn't eaten since breakfast. She looked up at the Hokage Tower and noticed there was still a light on in Kakashi's office. She quickly decided to run by her favorite sandwich place and pick up something for both herself and Kakashi; she doubted he had eaten either.

Twenty minutes later she was ascending the stairs with a bag full of sandwiches and chips in one hand and a drink carrier in the other. When she got to Kakashi's office she heard raised voices, voices she would recognize anywhere - Kakashi and Naruto. She slowed down and stopped in front of the door. She could now make out what was being said and it made her stomach drop.

"You're just going to order the death of innocent shinobi?! You can't do that, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, his voice carrying clearly through the door.

"Naruto-san, keep your voice down. I allow you leeway because of your status of my ex student. Keep this up and that will all disappear." Kakashi replied, his voice even, but Sakura could tell he was about to snap. She couldn't help but wonder how long this had been going on.

Might as well break this up before Naruto does something completely stupid, she thought before knocking on the door. She didn't wait to be acknowledged before she entered.

"Kakashi, I brought- oh, hello Naruto-san." She said, hoping she could fake surprise. She didn't think Kakashi was fooled.

"Sakura-chan! Do you know what they're planning?! We have to stop it!" Naruto pleaded, sounding more like a teen than an adult.

She glanced over at Kakashi and saw how tense his shoulders were and how his eyes had a subtle tick. She took a deep breath before moving from the doorway to Kakashi's desk, placing the food and drinks in the free space. She noticed how Kakashi eyed the bag and gave him a small smile to let him know he had food in the bag as well.

"Naruto-san, please keep your voice down. I've had a long day and I'm sure the coming days will be just as long; your screaming is giving me a headache and I'm sure you've already given Kakashi one." She said as she began to take the food out of the bag, sliding Kakashi's to him. "And yes, I do know what is planned. I'm not sure how you know, though, as it's classified information. Anyways, life isn't black and white and we must do what we can to save our home." She finished calmly. She leaned a hip against the desk and turned to look at him fully.

Naruto shook his head and clinched his fists. He looked up at them both and just stared.

"I don't know who you guys are anymore. The old Kakashi and Sakura would have never been okay with this!" He spat at them. Kakashi finally rose from his seat, no longer content to sit.

"That's enough, Naruto-san. I'll only tell you this once, so listen closely. The information you have wasn't meant for your ears. When I find out who told you there will be consequences for them. That aside, you must not tell anyone anything that you have found out, unless you want to see everyone you care about pass before your very eyes. I will do whatever I must to save this village and everyone in it. You may physically be an adult, but your maturity is that of a child who still see the world as black and white. There is so much grey and that's the world that we live in." He took a calming breath before finishing. "I think it's time you go home, Naruto-san."

Naruto looked between Sakura and Kakashi before turning to storm out of the office, taking with him the unpleasant air the office had.

"Well, that's not exactly what I thought I'd be waking in to." Sakura murmured as she took out her sandwich. Kakashi just sat down in his chair with a sigh.

Pulling a chair closer to his desk, Sakura down and took a bite of her food. She could have groaned at the flavors that assaulted her mouth.

"How long had he been here?" She asked after swallowing her food.

Kakashi chewed his food before answering.

"About twenty minutes. Thanks for the food, by the way. I was starving."

Sakura smiled. "You're welcome. I just left my office and saw you still had your light on. I figured you'd be getting hungry. Did Naruto come to see you just to yell about tomorrow?"

"I think so. Sakura, it was like talking to a child. Everything is so black and white with him. Right or wrong. How can he still be so naive after all he's seen?"

"You forget, he left less than a year after the war. That was nine years ago and he was only eighteen at that time. He's been traveling the world, not fighting. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure he's gotten stronger, but he hasn't had to deal with everything that comes from living in a Hidden Village for almost a decade."

Kakashi seemed to think about that, before giving her a nod and taking another bite of food. They continued to eat in silence until the meal had been consumed.

Sakura took a last sip of her drink before getting up and gathering the trash.

"Are you staying here all night?" She asked.

"I'm not sure. I still have a lot to go over and the teams leave first thing in the morning."

"You need to get sleep while you can." She replied lightly, moving behind him to gently massage his tense shoulders. She grinned when he let out a groan at her actions.

"I know." He sighed.

Sakura kept on rubbing his shoulders for a little while longer before she kissed the side of his head and moved to stand beside him.

"I'm serious. It's going to be a long few days and then you'll have all the prisoners to deal with. Please try to at least get a little sleep." She said as she ran a hand down his hair.

He looked up and gave her a small smile before tugging her closer to him. She stepped between his legs.

"Is this the right plan? Have I become too jaded to see that this is a mistake?" He asked quietly.

"They attacked Suna. They would be coming for us next. We've both seen what happens when our village is attacked; I don't want to repeat that and I know you don't either. You're doing what's best for this village, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."

He smiled up and her before scooting back and standing up. He pulled her close and rested his head on hers. Sakura wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his shoulder.

"What would I do without you?" He murmured.

She looked up at him and said, "I don't know. I ask myself the same thing."

"I'll try to sleep a little bit, but I can't promise anything."

Laying her head back against his chest she said, "That's all I needed to hear."

...

By the time Sakura got home and made it to bed it was going on ten. She laid out her clothes for the next day before pulling an old shirt of Kakashi's on and climbing into bed. It took her no time before she felt herself drifting off to sleep.

Some time later a masked man with silver hair opened the door to her apartment with the key she had given him that he normally forgot. He made his way silently through her place before entering her bedroom and began pulling off his mask and clothes down to his underwear. Walking over to the bed he pulled the sheets down on the side that Sakura had left empty and slid in. The pink haired woman rolled over and cuddled to his side, a small smile gracing her face before falling back asleep.

He hadn't planned on sleeping, but the thought of sleeping next to the pink haired woman overpowered his desire to overwork. He inhaled her scent, a warm vanilla, and felt his stress slipping away. In less than a week they had gone from friends to something else. Any label he could put on the relationship wouldn't do it justice, so he didn't even try. He just pulled her closer and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

...

The next morning ANBU teams headed out to meet up with the team that left the night before and the Suna teams. They ran until the made it to Cloud and slipped in unnoticed. In a matter of hours the entire village had been turned upside down, those sticking beside the Raikage killed and some taken prisoner. They easily overpowered the village's leader and before sunset of the next day and were making their way back to their home. Those that had been injured flooded the hospital where the Head of Medicine waited with her highly trained medics. They worked into the night healing every last one and it wasn't until the next day that Sakura finally headed back home, falling into bed without even undressing.

Kakashi similarly worked throughout the night, keeping watch over the interrogations of the captured shinobi. He felt his heart drop when a bloody Ibiki stepped out of the cell and stood in front of him.

"They cracked. We know who's behind all of this."

"Who?"

"Maychi Daisuke. He's an ex ANBU who was deflected when his brother was executed for treason. That was a few years before the war. I don't know why he's doing this and neither do they."

Kakashi shut his eyes, taking in all the information.

"Did you find out where he is?"

Shaking his head, the Head of Interrogation expanded. "No, but they did know that most of this followers were already in Cloud. That means we're only dealing with a few people at most now." Letting out a sigh Ibiki gave Kakashi the information he already knew in his gut.

"They were planning an attack on Konoha. It would have been carried out sometime in the coming week. We stopped it before it could happen."

Kakashi nodded before saying, "Find out if anyone knows anything else. If they don't, kill them. Cloud's Damiyo had given his okay for the fake Raikage's death as well."

Ibiki nodded before turning back to the cells. Kakashi watched him go before leaving as well. It was morning by now, but Kakashi knew he had to make plans to find one Maychi Disuke. He would pay for thinking about attacking Konoha.

...

Bum bum bum! We now know who's behind all the attacks! Of course, there's always more to it, isn't there?

Evil laugh. Haha.

Anyways, thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites! They seriously make my day.

Until next time!


	12. Chapter 10 - The curveball

Hey there all!

I know I just updated yesterday, but I just felt like writing and this just came out! Consider it my little surprise!

Anyways, we have a slight time skip, but thing too major. Some big things will be happening!

Enjoyyyyyy!

...

Four Weeks Later...

Life had been crazy for the past month. After learning who was behind the attack, Suna and Konoha worked together to track the man down, but as of yet he still hasn't been located. It bothered both Kakashi and Gaara, but there wasn't anything they could do. They knew it still wasn't over, that there was still danger of attacks, but life had to go on.

At least, until they had more information.

Life had settled down for Sakura, with the exception of Naruto.

He had avoided both her and Kakashi since that day in the Hokage's office, only acknowledging Kakashi in the official capacity of him being the Hokage. It bothered her, but she had expected it. She was different than she was at eighteen and he wanted her to be the same. She knew he wanted to come back and everything be as it was, but that just wasn't how life worked.

She knew they would eventually have to talk, but she was content with life as it was; an argument with Naruto would just being her high down.

Speaking of highs, her relationship with Kakashi had only gotten better. They still didn't label themselves and no one knew there was anything different between them, but they were happy that way. They still had dinner at her place on Saturday nights - which usually turned into breakfast at their favorite cafe the next morning. She had gotten spoiled by all the nights spent wrapped in his arms. He seemed to prefer her apartment to his and she was perfectly happy with that.

They both worked long hours and sometimes it was well into the night before Kakashi would show up at her place; thankfully he now used the key she had given him years ago. If you would have asked either one of them five years ago if they would have been happy with the life they now lived they would have called you crazy, but here they were, happier than ever.

"Forehead, do you know what you want yet?" Ino asked, snapping Sakura out of her silent musings. She looked down at the menu before nodding her head.

"Yeah, I think I'll get the number five. Pasta sound really good to me right now."

"Oh yum, I didn't even see that! That does sound really good!" Ino exclaimed.

It was Saturday afternoon and the two women had made plans for a day of shopping and catching up. Ino recently found out that she was expecting again and was already getting too big for her normal clothes.

Of course, she still had her clothes from her pregnancy with the twins, but no one would dare tell her that.

Sakura found herself wishing it was her who was planning for a new baby, but as soon as that thought entered her mind she shook her head. She was too busy for kids, not to mention she was unmarried and she didn't know if Kakashi even wanted kids. No, it wasn't the right time for her to be thinking about kids.

"Any idea what you're having this time around?" She asked Ino. The blonde shook her head.

"Nope. I kinda hope it's a girl this time. Don't get me wrong! I love my boys with all my heart, but I would love to have a little girl to dress up. And oh man, it would be hilarious to watch Genma fight off the boys when that time came."

Sakura burst out laughing at that. Genma was so protective of Ino and their sons, so she could only imagine how he would be over a daughter.

"I can only imagine!" She replied, still laughing. They continued to catch up, briefly stopping to give their waitress their order.

"Okay, so, I've held my tongue for long enough." Ino said after their pasta was sat in front of them.

"Held your tongue long enough about what?" Sakura asked around a mouthful of Alfredo.

Ino sipped her water before answering. "About you and Kakashi. Nope! Don't even try! I know and so does Genma. You may be able to hide it from everyone else, but you can't hide it from your best friends." Ino said before Sakura could say anything.

"I knew the second I saw you leaving your apartment with Kakashi in tow three weeks ago. You can't even deny it, it was a Sunday and it was seven in the morning. He stayed the night, don't even lie."

Sakura hid her face in her hands. She had no idea anyone had seen them leave.

"What were you doing at my apartment at seven in the morning, anyways?" She asked her blonde friend.

"I was on my way to the bakery down the road from your place. I wanted muffins." She said as of that made perfect sense. Sakura guessed it did.

"Pig, look-" Sakura started before Ino cut her off.

"No excuses. Look, I don't care if you guys don't know what you are yet. All I care about is that you both finally admitted to yourselves that you felt more than friendship for each other." She said before taking another bite of her food.

Sakura could only stare at her best friend.

"You might wanna finish your food before it gets cold." Ino said with a grin.

Sakura huffed before digging into her food.

They ate in silence, enjoying the food. Before long they were finished and had paid the waitress. They made their way out of the restaurant and to the new maternity and baby store that had recently opened.

"Oh look! These clothes are so cute!" Ino squealed. Trust her to be excited over cute maternity clothes.

They browsed through the racks with Ino collecting a few items. After Ino was satisfied she made her way to the dressing room, leaving Sakura alone. She wandered over to the stuffed animals and smiled softly, reaching out to stroke one with a pink bow. She'd have to come back when she found out what Ino was having and get the new baby a stuffed animal.

She had turned to look at the baby clothes when a feeling of nausea struck her. She put a hand up to her mouth, frantically looking around for a bathroom. She took off in that direction and barely made it to a stall before she puked up the pasta she had just consumed.

She retched for a good few minutes before she sat back on the floor and ran a shaky hand through her hair. She hadn't felt that sick in a long time and had no idea what brought it on. She moved to stand up before another wave hit her and she leaned back over the toilet.

She vaguely heard the restroom door open and footsteps leading to the stall she was in. She stood up, the feeling of nausea passing for the time being. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and opened the door.

There stood Ino, looking both concerned and gleeful.

"Oh Forehead, I was only joking about you being pregnant before the end of the year." She said.

Sakura just turned and puke in the toilet again.

She felt Ino move behind her, holding her hair away from her face. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Sakura finally felt like she had puked out everything she possibly could.

Ino helped her stand and guided her to the sink.

"Rinse your mouth out. You'll feelbetter after you do." She told her as she reached into her purse and pulled out a bottle of mouthwash.

"Here. I keep some in my purse for times like these. Thankfully, I'm moving into my second trimester so I haven't had morning sickness for a while now." She said as Sakura took the bottle and rinsed her mouth out. She looked at her reflection in the mirror, seeing the pale skin and bright spots on her cheeks.

"I'm not pregnant, Ino." She said when Ino finished speaking.

The blonde just looked at her with knowing eyes.

"I'm not!"

"We're getting a test and I don't want to hear another word. We'll go back to your place and you can take it. If it's negative I won't say another word."

Sakura sighed, knowing she might as well go along with what Ino wanted. She just didn't feel like arguing with her.

"Fine. Just remember what you said; when it's negative you won't say another word."

Ino just held her hands up and turned to leave the restroom. Sakura followed and after Ino picked up the clothes she was going to get they moved to the register so she could pay for them.

They left the store and made their way to the convenience store at the other end of the street. They went in and Ino picked up a test, knowing Sakura would be too embarrassed to get one. After all, if she was pregnant the last thing she needed was for Kakashi to know before she was ready to tell him.

They left, test in a little brown bag in Ino's purse. They made their way back to Sakura's apartment and once they entered Ino handed Sakura the test and pointed towards her bathroom. She huffed and took the test, grumbling about how she wasn't pregnant and that this was a waste of time.

Once in the privacy of her bathroom, Sakura took the test out of the bag and stared at it.

There was no way she was pregnant. No way. She couldn't be. She wasn't ready and neither was Kakashi.

Taking a deep breath she moved to the toilet and peed on the stick, placing it on the counter when she was done. She looked at the clock and saw that its was 3:02. She had until 3:07 to wonder about what she would do of it was positive. She put the lid of the toilet down and sat on top of it.

She told herself that she had just eaten some bad pasta. It must not have agreed with her stomach and this was just Ino being hopeful. There was just no way she was pregnant.

Time seemed to creep by, but she finally looked up and saw that it was 3:08. She stood up and slowly made her way to her counter and picked up the stick.

She took a deep breath and then looked at the little screen on the test. The word PREGNANT appeared on the screen and Sakura felt her heart drop to her stomach.

No. There wasn't any way. She wasn't pregnant, she couldn't be, but the little stick said otherwise.

"Sakura! Hey, have you taken it yet?" Ino called through the bathroom door. Sakura didn't answer, instead she sat down on the toilet lid before she fell in the floor.

After Ino got no answer from Sakura she slowly opened the door.

"Hey, Forehead. Everything okay?" She asked as she peeked her head in the bathroom.

Sakura looked up at her friend and pointed to the counter. Ino moved into the bathroom and stepped to the counter. She looked at the test and seeing the word PREGNANT she turned to her friend.

"Oh, Forehead."

...

Ah! Finally!

Congrats to the people who guessed that she was pregnant in Chapter 8.

I think Chapter 8. Haha.

But yes! We are finally to the curveball that life has thrown Kakashi and Sakura! Woo!

Thoughts? How do you think they will both handle it? Let me know in the reviews!

Anyways, I know this chapter isn't as long as they usually are, but this is a super important chapter. Now we can move into the next arc/part of the story! Woo!

Until next time!


	13. Chapter 11 - A Life Changing Event

Oh my lanta, it's been forever!

I had hit major writers block, but I feel like my creative juices are finally back!

I hope every single one of you guys have been having a great end of summmer and fall!

And without further ado, here is the next installment of The Curveball!

Hope y'all enjoy!

...00..

Sakura had spent the rest of her day alone, curled up in her blankets on her couch, listening to the mindless droning of the television. Ino had remained for an hour after she had taken the test, but Sakura had requested to be alone. She knew her friend meant well, and honestly she couldn't help but feel thankful for her, but she needed quiet to gather her thoughts.

She had decided years ago that she didn't want children. It was a girlhood fantasy and one that she had quickly squashed after the war. Kids were a liability, they were defenseless and required constant protection. Plus, with how many enemies she had made over her life, any children she would have would always be in danger. She had come to terms with her decision and made peace with finding joy in being an honorary aunt.

Then there was Kakashi. She knew he never planned to have kids, mostly for the same reasons she had. They had talked about it years ago, before anything more than friendship was going on between them. It would be even worse for his kids; he was the current Hokage and the Copy-nin. He had lost so much that the fact that he allowed her in always amazed her. He had once said he couldn't handle having kids because he would have something more precious than he had ever had to lose. She had agreed with the sentiment and had even thought about taking a more permanent precaution against kids, but she never made it around to actually doing it.

Now it was too late. She was pregnant and not only with a fellow shinobi's child, but Hatake Kakashi's. The child would have a bounty on his or her's head before the child was even born. Fear gripped her with icy cold hands and she felt panic well up inside her. She didn't know what she was going to do or how she would tell Kakashi. They didn't even know what they were to each other, how could they bring a child into this world.

She took a few deep, calming breaths to keep herself from losing it. She was a little over a month pregnant, so she should be able to feel the baby's chakra and life force. High level medics could usually detect pregnancy as soon as it happened, but Sakura supposed that it was harder to do when it was your own body. She shut her eyes and placed her hand on her abdominal, expelling chakra as she did so. She searched for her womb and for anything abnormal, her eyes widening as she felt the gentle pulse of chakra coming from a small bundle of cells.

A baby. A child that was half her and half Kakashi. A blood relation; something neither of them had. She couldn't help the tears that fell down her cheeks as they leaked from her closed eyes. She was going to be a mother. The thought filled an empty place in her heart she didn't know was there. Nine years ago she felt like her whole life was falling apart, but little by little, piece by piece she had rebuilt her life. She had friends that stood by her, a job that gave her purpose, a relationship with a man who respected her and treated her like she was the best thing to ever happen to him, and now a baby. A new life. Someone who would know nothing of the pain and suffering she had experienced. Realistically she knew that one day he or she would know pain and would see suffering, but now? This new life was an innocent, and she felt like she was receiving the best gift she had ever hoped to get.

She was still unsure of how to tell Kakashi or how he would react, but no matter what she had a new life to protect. And she would. For the rest of her life.

..00..

Kakashi had a long day.

Meetings with the council and Shikamaru had lasted well into the afternoon and paperwork had kept him in his office until well after 8pm. He longed to grab some food and fill his belly, to crawl into bed with Sakura and sleep this whole day away. He had become accustomed to staying with Sakura and found when he did sleep in his own apartment he had trouble falling asleep. Usually he would give up halfway through the night and he would grab some clothes and sneak over to Sakura's place. He wondered how long they would be able to hide their growing relationship with their close friends. Of course, it wasn't that they wanted to hide or were embarrassed, just that neither of them were public people and they valued their privacy. Tonight, though, he couldn't care less if anyone saw him. He was tired, hungry, and was craving company.

He ran a tired hand through his messy silver hair before signing his name to the last mission report, arching his back in a stretch and letting out a large yawn. He got up out of his chair and hung his Hokage robes on the hook by the door, deciding that it was time to call it a night. He left his office and made his way to the small deli by the Hokage Tower, deciding to pick up some soup and sandwiches for both Sakura and himself. Even if she had already eaten she could save it for lunch for the next day.

As he made his way to her apartment, bags of food in tow, his mind wondered to their growing relationship. Normally he never let himself get close to people, but she had gotten under his skin nearly a decade ago. She had wormed herself into his life and he honestly hadn't been the same since. It was almost comical - the man who swore off relationships like the plague now was someone who looked forward to quiet nights with a woman. One woman. One beautiful, smart, tough, spunky, and loving woman. He knew Genma would never let him live it down when he found out, but Kakashi decided that he didn't care.

Making his way up the stairs to Sakura's second floor apartment he moved the bags to his left arm and fished the keys out of his pants pocket. It still felt odd using a key and coming in the front door, but it was a feeling he could get use to. After all, life was looking pretty good for him now. He had once feared letting someone in, worried that she would be targeted and killed for being close to him, but he knew Sakura could handle herself. She was strong and she had proved herself in battle many times.

After unlocking the door he pushed it open, slight surprised to see the pink haired woman fast asleep in the couch. He quietly made his way to the kitchen to set the bags on the counter and then returning to the living room. She looked pretty comfortable, but he knew she would prefer her bed to the couch, so he bent down and picked her up. She stirred slightly, mumbling his name as she squinted her eyes up at him.

"Sh, you were asleep on the couch and you know you'll be more comfortable in your bed." He told her quietly as he made his was to the bedroom. Once inside he sat he down on the edge of the bed, laughing to himself at her out-of-it expression. He turned the covers done and gently pulled her to lay down, tucking the sheets around her as he did so. Within seconds she was out again and he bent down and kissed her forehead, deciding to eat his food and then join Sakura in bed. The exhaustion of the day hit him full force and he made his way to the bathroom to splash some water on his face, but when he entered the bathroom and flicked on the light he received a shock that would alter his world forever.

There, laying the the counter, was what looked like a pregnancy test. He slowly moved farther into the bathroom and picked up the test in question. The word that he read knocked the wind out of him and he found himself sitting on the side of the tub, shock draining any feeling he had in his limbs.

Sakura was pregnant.

Pregnant with his child.

..00..

Once again so sorry for the long wait! I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter and let me know what you all think!

Until next time! 3


	14. Chapter 12 - A time to think

Hey there all! Welcome back to another chapter!

I have a few things I wanted to say, but I put that at the end of the chapter so those who just want to get to the meat can!

So without further ado, here's the next installment of The Curveball!

..00..

When Kakashi was a child he dreamed of being a great ninja, of being a great fighter and having a wife and child, like his father did. He would fight glorious battles and come home to his family a hero, but that dream died the day his father chose his team over the mission. The day his father took his own life and sealed his mother's fate. The day he was forced to grow up before his time. He had sworn to himself that day that he would never have children who would depend on him. His father let him down and he would surely let down any child he would have. Life had changed a lot since that day, but his resolve had not. He kept people at arms length and so far there was only one person who had managed to get closer; Sakura. She had woven herself into his life and he never even knew it. She was strong where his mother had been weak, kind where he was abrupt. She understood him in a way no one else ever had and supported him in all things. She forgave easily and cared quickly, but like him, she kept most people at arms length. They agreed on their futures and once they moved past being just friends their lives just seemed to mesh. Neither one needed constant attention, they both loved quiet evenings away from the prying eyes of the village, and neither had a desperate need to procreate. In fact, neither Sakura nor he wanted children. He could see their future clearly; both working hard at jobs they loved, quiet evenings laughing at their days, trips to foreign lands after they moved on from their jobs, long nights wrapped in each other's arms, and living a quiet life. He never had saw himself married, but the thought of tying himself to Sakura in that way seemed right. Not any time soon, but in the future he could see himself getting down on one knees and asking her to be his wife.

But now? Everything had changed in the span a of few seconds.

Sakura was pregnant. He knew instinctively that she didn't plan to be, she wasn't that type of woman and he knew that she truly had never planned on having children. He didn't know how it happened, well, he knew how. He just didn't know what failed to leave them expecting a child.

His heart raced at that thought - he was going to be a dad. He was going to have a child with Sakura. The child would be in danger his or her whole life. He had powerful enemies, as did Sakura. What if something happened? What if someone wanted to use his child as a way to get to him? It worried him enough that someone could use Sakura; she could take care of herself and it still made him lose sleep, but a child?

Kakashi didn't know how long he sat on the edge of the tub, pregnancy test in hand. His mind felt like it was in overdrive - scenarios speeding through his head. He now knew why Sakura had fallen asleep on her couch, and part of him wished she was still awake so she could talk this through with him. He hoped she wouldn't have tried to hide it from him, but that thought was squashed as soon as it came. She would never do that and for better or worse, they were in this together.

His mind took another course, and he soon began to think about Sakura pregnant. They would be married, of course, he was old fashioned in that aspect and he knew from knowing her for so long she was too. She would be beautiful, with her belly growing large with his child. They would make plans for both the near and far off future. They'd have to get a house because neither of their apartments were adequate for a family. He didn't know if she would want to keep her job as Head of Medicine, but it didn't matter to him because he knew either way they would make sure the child always knew he or she was loved. Maybe by the time the child started school he could step down as Hokage and focus on being a dad.

A dad. He was going to be a dad. All of the reasons he had for not wanting children suddenly didn't matter. He was going to have a child with Sakura, the woman he knew he loved more than life itself. Whatever happened they were in this together and he would make sure she never doubted that or his love for her.

Decision made, he rose from the tub and made his way back to the bedroom where Sakura slept.

..00..

Sakura vaguely remembered being woken up by Kakashi and tucked into bed, but when she woke up at midnight she was still alone. Confused and still half asleep she rolled to her back and stared up at the ceiling. The whole day had been a blur and she was still as confused about it all as she was when she found out that she was pregnant. It scared her that she was already fiercely protective of her unborn child. She didn't know how to tell Kakashi, but she knew no matter what she would love this child with every fiber of her being.

The door opened quietly and Sakura turned her head to the sound. A familiar silver head emerged and for a moment all the stress of the day went away and she was just glad that he was here.

He made his way to the side of the bed that he normally occupied, sliding under the covers and pulling her close as he did. For several moments they simply laid together, Kakashi gently running his fingers through her hair.

"Sakura, you know I love you, right?" He asked quietly.

She nuzzled her face into his shoulder, "I do, and I love you as well."

He was quiet for a little while and Sakura had almost believed he had fallen asleep.

"I found the pregnancy test in the bathroom."

Sakura froze, her mind going blank. His fingers still wove their way through her hair, but she still felt worry seep into her gut.

"I know you didn't plan this and I know you would have told me in your own time."

She pulled away from him slightly so that she could sit up. "I just found out this afternoon."

Kakashi rose to a sitting position as well. "How do you feel?"

She sighed, racking her brain for the right words. "Scared. I'm in disbelief. I never planned on having kids and now I'm finding that plan changed completely."

"Do you regret it?"

She looked up at him, shaking her head. "No. Kakashi, I, I felt the child's life force. How can I regret something that already fills me with so much joy? But, at the same time, how can someone who isn't even born yet give me joy?"

"I don't know, but I know that the thought of that child being half of you and half of me gives me joy. Sakura, you know I also never planned to have kids, but now that its happening-" he broke off his sentence, seemingly searching for the right words to continue with. "Now that its happening I can't find it in my heart to regret it. It scares me, terrifies me actually, but I know that you'll protect this child with your life and I will as well. You're the strongest person I know and I couldn't imagine my life without you."

She felt tears well in her eyes and blamed hormones. "You're not mad?"

"Mad? Sakura, what would I have to be mad over? We both were there when it happened and we both knew what the consequences could be."

She wiped away the tears that had fallen and gave him a shaky smile. He tugged her close and moved them both to lay down. "Let's sleep now. We're both too tired to discuss the future. We'll get breakfast tomorrow and how about we both just take a personal day and figure every thing out."

"Can the Hokage take a personal day?" She asked.

He leaned over and kissed the side of her head, "This one is."

Together they fell asleep, it not escaping her that his hand stayed on her belly.

..00..

When Sakura opened her eyes the next morning she forgot the turn of events from the day before for a few moments. She was laying on her side, Kakashi spooning her from behind. She felt his breath move her hair every time he exhaled and she couldn't help but wish she could wake up like this every morning.

Then, of course, everything came back to her full force.

She was pregnant. Kakashi knew. She felt fear squeeze her heart, but she calmed herself before she could fully freak out. Kakashi was still here, not that she ever really thought that he would leave, but she was wrapped in his arms and for some odd reason she felt that everything would work out. They had a lot to talk through, but they were together and that's all that really mattered.

His arm that was around her waist tighten for a moment before she felt him stir.

"Morning." He mumbled as he nuzzled her neck.

"Morning Kashi." She murmured back.

They were silent for a long while, each waking up fully and thinking about everything. At least, that's what she was doing.

"Feel like eating?" She heard him ask. She rolled over so that she could look at him.

"I actually feel like I haven't eaten in weeks."

"Have you been feeling sick?"

She took a breath and thought for a moment. "I guess I haven't been feeling 100% this week, but I thought it was just a bug."

"Well, since you're starving," he said while playfully poking her sides, taking joy in her bark of laughter, "how about I go and get us something. I need to swing by the office and let them know I won't be in today."

"Okay. I actually wasn't supposed to work today anyways, I just forgot during everything yesterday."

Kakashi nodded and kissed her softly before getting up and making his way to the bathroom. He emerged a few moments later. "I shouldn't be gone too long."

"I suppose I can heat up some ramen if you take too long." She said playfully. She was rewarded with an eye roll.

"I happen to know for a fact that you don't even have any instant ramen. I'll be right back." He said as he made his way to the door.

Once alone, Sakura sat up and ran her hands through her hair. Everything seem unreal and all too real at the same time. She was glad that she had some time to herself before they brought up the topic of her pregnancy.

Getting out of bed she made her way to the bathroom Kakashi recently vacated. Thankfully she hadn't experienced another bout of sickness since lunch the day before, but she still felt more tired than she normally did. She decided that a bath would help her relax ( though it also might make her more sleepy ), so she started the water and got her favorite bubble bath out of the cabinet. She wished she knew what Kakashi was thinking and feeling, but she told herself she would know soon enough.

With that thought she sank into the half filled tub, immensely glad she decided to take a bath.

..00..

Kakashi didn't want to be away from Sakura, but at the same time he needed time in the cool air of the morning to think. He stopped by the Hokage Tower first thing and collected some reports to work on later in the day. Normally he never took a day off, so thankfully he was completely caught up on mission reports. No one was due back today, so he should be free and clear for the whole day. He decided to take the long way to the bakery so that he would have a few moments. Everything in his life had changed in the last 24 hours and he felt like he was still trying to catch up on it all. It hadn't really sunk in that Sakura was really pregnant, though he knew she was on an intellectual level. Emotionally though? He hadn't a clue. He felt like he kept repeating himself when he told himself he never wanted kids. He was 41 years old and up until yesterday he had kept to that decision, but now the choice had been taken and he was going to be a father.

Okay, he admitted to himself, he knew it was a possibility every time he slept with Sakura, but it just seemed so impossible. He was stupid for thinking that.

He also had to admit to himself that a child that was part of him and part of Sakura filled him with feelings he had no name for. Unlike his father he knew he'd never leave his wife and child behind for his own honor. He was also no longer an active shinobi, and neither was Sakura. The normal fears that he associated with family and kids seemed completely irrelevant. There would always be danger, but considerably less than a decade before.

After he arrived at the bakery and ordered some pastries and muffins he made his way back to Sakura's place. It was time for them to have a fully conscious discussion about their future.

..00..

Ah. Okay. I can't tell if it's too fluffy and not enough drama, but I just didn't seem either one of them completely freaking out. I see them as too mature and in love with each other for that and I hope I've conveyed that in the past chapters.

I believe we're at the halfway point now. There's still some drama and action in store and I have it vaguely mapped out in my head.

Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed this chapter and I want to say thank you for all those who have been following this story from the beginning. I also want to say hi to all those who have recently joined me on this crazy ride. Seeing reviews, follows, favorites, etc truly makes my day!

Until next time!


	15. Chapter 13 - He's back?

Hello there! I originally intended this to be a longer chapter, but life gets in the way. Thankfully I believe this will help move the story into the next phase.

Hope everyone enjoys!

..00..

Sakura's life had been turned upside down in the past four weeks. After finding out that she was pregnant and subsequently making decisions and plans with Kakashi, she now found herself staring at the packet of papers Kakashi had given her that morning. Inside were three homes within the borders of Konoha.

Buying a home. With Kakashi.

She put the papers down and took a deep breath, feeling overwhelmed.

The morning after they had found out they were going to be parents they sat down and had a long talk. Over muffins and tea they decided against telling anyone who didn't already know - i.e. Ino and of course Genma because they both knew the blonde couldn't keep a secret from her husband - until she made it past her first trimester. They had also decided that neither of their rented apartments was big enough, so buying a house was a must. Kakashi had especially be adamant about their child having a real home to grow up in, and that needed to include a yard as well. So here she sat, looking over the three homes that had made it past her lover's first inspection.

The first one seemed to be the closest to central Konoha which immediately appealed to her. It had four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and the master bedroom had an extra bathroom attached. The yard, however, was small and there were houses in all directions so they would have little privacy. The second home was a little farther out and had the same amount of rooms and bathrooms as the first home, but the yard was considerably larger. The final home had five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a complete master suite, and 2 acres of land behind it. She was immediately drawn to that one because they could set up a small practice field for their child when he or he got older.

It was just all so domestic, and she definitely was not domestic.

She once again took a deep breath and told herself that buying a house wasn't going to change anything; it was having a baby that would.

Just as she was about to pick the papers back up a loud knocking sounded at the door, causing her to jump slightly.

"Come in." She called, irritation lacing her tone. She hated being startled with a passion.

In poked a familiar blonde head and she felt her frustration grow. Her patience with Naruto dwindled the further into her pregnancy she got. Not that she could tell him that, of course, but thankfully he had been busy getting ready for the upcoming promotion exams.

"Sakura, oh man, Sakura you have to come quick!" He said as he opened the door fully, panting for breath.

"Calm down, Naruto, I'm pretty busy right now. What's the matter?" She asked as she slid the housing papers underneath the file on her desk.

"No, Sakura, you need to come NOW!"

She shut her eyes for a moment. "Then why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"Sasuke's back."

..00..

Kakashi had been having a pretty decent day. He had given Sakura housing papers to look over and they planned to discuss it after work. It was a Friday, which meant Sakura was off the following day and he didn't plan to head in to the office until the afternoon. He was looking forward to a lazy, peaceful morning. That was, of course, until an ANBU team came back dragging one Sasuke Uchiha with them.

He felt a headache form immediately.

He was injured, but none were life threatening. The team captain said they had found him about twenty miles outside of Konoha's border and decided that they should pick him up and bring him back before anyone else found him in his weakened state.

The medic on duty in the emergency department was currently healing Sasuke as he waited outside with Shikamaru. He had no idea why the man had been so close to Konoha, nor had he spoken to him in nearly a decade. When he left, he left everyone behind. It had driven Naruto to leave as well and had deeply cut Sakura. He blamed him for setting in motion the events that lead Sakura to ANBU, even though that also lead her to himself.

Thankfully a nurse emerged from the room and Shikamaru flagged her down while he was lost in his own thoughts.

"Any news?"

The young nurse looked unsure until she noticed that he was standing with Shikamaru. "He seems to be okay internally, he just had a lot of surface wounds. He's severely dehydrated which is most likely what caused him to pass out."

He was about to ask the woman another question when he saw a blonde man running towards them.

"Sasuke? Is Sasuke really back? Where is he Kakashi-sensei?" He asked in rapid succession.

"Naruto, calm down. Yes, Sasuke is here and he's being treated right now." Shikamaru told the blonde.

"Is Sakura treating him?" He asked.

"No, Ashbu Nokimi is in there with him right now." Kakashi said, his patience already wearing thin.

Naruto looked at them incredulously before turning a running off.

"He's going to go tell Sakura." Shikamaru said, rubbing his head.

He felt his blood drain from his head and pool at his feet. She didn't need anything to upset her right now. She had just made it into the eleventh week. He turned and followed after Naruto, knowing Shikamaru would know where he was going.

He was going to kill Naruto before the day was over.

..00..


	16. Chapter 14 - Are You Really Kakashi?

*Tip toes in*

Anyone here?

Gosh, it's been so long! I never intended for it to be this long before an update, but I hit major writers block and I got so frustrated with the story that I put it on the metaphoric shelf until today.

I hope everyone is having a great 2017 so far and hopefully I can see this thing through till the end!

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed this so far, your reviews keep me going and I'm thankful for each and every one of you!

So, without further ado, here's the next installment of The Curveball!

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Sakura wasn't easily shocked.

After the life she had lived so far it took a lot to surprise her, which is why when the words 'Sasuke's back.' came out of Naruto's mouth she felt her body freeze. It had been nearly a decade since he had left Konoha without a trace, though she knew he had told Tsunada because she didn't seem surprised at all. She supposed, on some level, she always knew he would come back.

She stared at Naruto, unsure if any words would be able to form. He looked at her expectantly, so sure she would take off running to find where he was at. She took a deep breath, "Well, I never did believe he would stay away for good."

"That's all you have to say? Sakura-chan! Come on! Some guy who isn't you is treating him right now! You have to go and make sure he's okay!"

"Naruto, I'm sure that whoever is treating him is doing just fine." Man, she was glad she sounded much more calm than she actually felt.

"Sak-" Naruto was cut off mid word by Kakashi, who looked positive murderous. "Naruto. Leave. Now."

He looked between herself and Kakashi, before his expression hardened. "Screw you both." With that he turned on his heel and left, slamming the door in his way out.

"So he's back." She stated, not needing an answer.

Kakashi walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders. "Are you okay?"

She furrowed her brow slightly. "Of course. Shocked, yes, but fine."

He took a deep breath and let it out in relief. "I wanted to be the one to tell you."

She gave him a half smile before closing the gap between them and giving him a small kiss. "I know. How was he found?"

"ANBU found him outside the border and brought him in. None of his injuries are life threatening, so he should be in good shape soon." He looked down and her, waging a silent battle in his head. "You're sure you're good? It had to be a shock."

She reached up and laid a palm to his cheek. "I promise I'm good. Yes, it's a shock, but I never really thought he'd be away forever. Though, I am curious as to why he was so close. Do you think he intended to come back, or just passing through?"

He turned and placed a kiss to her palm. "I'm not sure. Guess we'll have to wait until he wakes up and ask him."

She nodded and took a step back, turning to walk behind her desk. "Well, I guess I should head down and wait with you."

As she gathered her stuff Kakashi studied her. "You don't have to. I can send for you when he wakes up."

She looked up at him. "And leave you alone with Naruto, who believes that we are the scum of the earth right now?"

He let out a snort of laughter at that. "Okay, I would prefer waiting with you so that you can act as a buffer."

She gave him a wink. "That's what I thought."

Together they walked out of her office and downstairs to the waiting room.

..00..

Sakura sat in the plush chair in Kakashi's office. They had stayed at the hospital for three hours before Kakashi had decided she needed to be somewhere more comfortable and get some food in her belly. Had she not been tired already and ready to be away from Naruto she would have argued, but she really didn't feel like sitting in the hard metal chairs of the waiting room any longer.

She held her bowl of pasta up to her face before shoveling noodles into her mouth, stopping when Kakashi looked up from his paper work to give her a smirk.

"Hungry?"

She glared at him, slurping a noodle. "Shut up."

He grinned at her before turning back to his document. She studied him as she kept eating, processing what had happened.

After a while she placed her now empty bowl down and rested her hands on her still flat stomach.

"Kakashi, do you think I'll be a good mom?"

He jerked his head up, his brows meeting as he gave her an odd look. "Why would you even need to ask that?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Well, it's just I never pictured myself as a mother. You know kids were never really in my plans, so I didn't give motherhood much thought." She took a deep breath. "What if I screw up?"

"Sakura, I'm much more likely to screw up than you are." He put his pen down and rose, waking around to her and crouching down to her level. "Kids were never in either of our plans, but it seems that plans don't really mean much. We'll do the best we can."

She smiled at him, her worry depleting. "You know, it's pretty hysterical that Sasuke appears back in Konoha as we reproduce."

Kakashi just stared at her before shaking his head. "Sometimes, I worry about you, sweetheart."

"You worry about me? Kakashi, you just called me a pet name."

At that he sat on his butt and laughed.

"Kakashi, I don't think Hokages can sit on the floor like that."

He shook his head and got up, reaching down and pulling her up as well. "Hokages can do whatever they wish, and that includes making out with their secret girlfriend." And without a second thought he brought his lips down on her, giving her no time to get her bearings before he deepened the kiss. When he broke it he gave her a grin. "See? I can do whatever I want."

"Are you really Kakashi?"

He laughed before stepping away from her. "Pretty sure I am."

She rolled her eyes at that.

He looked up at the clock. "Want to head back over? I know he's not awake or they would have come and gotten me, but we can check back in and then I'll walk you home."

"You plan on staying home with me?"

"How could I ever say no?"


	17. Chapter 15 - Baby Bump?

Hey guys, I'm back!

Shew, I didn't realize how much I missed this story, but it did feel good to take a break.

I know last time I had decided that I would rewrite this and change a few things, but I think it lost something so here I am, picking up where I left off in the original story.

I hope you all enjoy and I want to thank those that have stuck by since the beginning. This story is already a year old and I still can't believe that people actually want to read my writing!

I hope y'all enjoy this chapter and that you keep stick around until this story reaches its conclusion!

..00..

The next morning found Sakura staring in her full length mirror, hands holding the stomach that yesterday she could have sworn was flat.

"Kakashi!"

The silver haired man peeped around the corner, having been in the bathroom shaving. His face was still half covered with shaving cream, and Sakura would have laughed if she wasn't so focused on her stomach.

She turned away from the mirror and gestured to her stomach. "Since when has my stomach looked like this?"

His eyes dropped to her midsection and she saw his eyebrows rise. "Uh, well, that's new."

She sighed in exasperation. "It is! How am I going to hide this!"

"It's not really even that noticeable, other than to you because it's your body." He then offered her a sly grin. "And me, because I know your body intimately."

She rolled her eyes at that and picked up her shirt, shrugging in on.

It was true, with her shirt on no one would notice anything and if they did, they would assume that she had just packed on a few pounds. "Great, now I just look fat."

Kakashi had gone back into the bathroom to finish shaving, which meant he didn't hear her uttered sentence.

Deciding to don one of her more flowy tops she tore off the offensive shirt and finished getting ready. They both had important meetings going on today, so neither one would be able to break away until well into the evening.

Naruto, she was sure, would be pissed that they weren't waiting by Sasuke's bedside, but he would get over it. She found that she had little patience for the blonde, and the further into her pregnancy she got the less she had. His stunt the previous day had grated on her nerves, especially since she knew he expected her to want to jump into the raven haired man's arms as soon as he awoke.

He would never guess that she spent every night in the arms of their current Hokage.

She wasn't sure how much longer either one then intended to keep their relationship secret, though their time was running out until their child took the choice out of their hands.

Kakashi came back into the bedroom, pulling her out of her thoughts as she stared at the bare chest that she loved so much, toned abs and all.

"Make sure you stop and eat lunch - none of that vending machine junk I know you love so much." He told her as he finished getting dressed. Normally a statement like that would irritate her, but coming from Kakashi she found it endearing.

"I promise. I may even see if Ino wants to grab something."

"That's a good idea." He gave her a grin before donning his mask, moving over to her and giving her a cloth covered peck in the head. "I'll see you tonight."

..00..

Sakura's last meeting was at one, so at two thirty Ino showed up at her office, carrying a bag of amazing smelling food.

"Oh gosh, I love you. Is that beef?" She asked as she rose and made her way over to the food.

Ino laughed at that. "It is. I even got some miso soup in case your stomach decides to be queasy."

Sakura gave her friend a quick hug before taking her food back to her desk, Ino following and taking a seat opposite to her.

"I actually haven't thrown up in about a week, so I hope that parts over."

The blonde swallowed the bite she had taken. "That's about how I was with the twins and this little boy." She patted at her protruding stomach.

"Oh, look at this!" Sakura said as she rose and pulled up her shirt, displaying her midsection.

"Wow! Sakura, when did you grow a belly?"

She lowered her shirt and sat back down, reaching for her forgotten sandwich. "Overnight it feels like. I don't think I looked like this yesterday."

Ino nodded. "That's how it always seems to happen for me too. Gosh, can you believe we'll be having kids only a few months apart?"

"No! I need to make an appointment to be checked over, but I just don't feel ready to have all of Konoha know my business."

"Well, it's a good thing you're a medic, or I'd be fussing that you haven't been to see a doctor yet. Is there anyone you would trust?"

Sakura chewed thoughtfully. "Dr. Asnin probably. She's always been extremely professional whenever I have a meeting with her."

"Well then, make an appointment! It's getting close to time to find out the baby's sex after all."

"This all seems like a dream, one that I'm going to wake up from and realize that I'm all alone."

Ino's lips turned down that that. "Oh Forehead, it's not a dream and you're not going to wake up alone. I know right now it's hard for it to all seem real, but it is."

She gave her friend a watery smile, glad to have someone like Ino to confide in. "Thanks Pig."

They finished up their lunch and made plans to go out baby clothes shopping as soon as Sakura plucked up the courage to go to the doctor, which she promised Ino she would do soon.

The rest of the day flew by and before she knew it the clock was telling her it was a quarter to six. She sighed and stretched out in her chair before pushing back and standing. She had decided that she would stop by and see if Sasuke had made any progress, but she knew from the report the attending medic made last night that as far as anyone could tell, Sasuke was in a deep coma. She had conferred with said medic and the only conclusion they could come to was that there was something going on in his mind to keep him unconscious, because physically he had very minimal injuries.

She desperately wished that Naruto wouldn't be there, but she knew she was only kidding herself, so she gathered up her bag and made her way out of the office, locking her door behind her.

Sasuke was currently on the third floor, which housed those who needed long term care. It was a place she never expect her teammate to be, but she supposed that nothing in her life was going how she thought.

Not that she was complaining, of course.

Just as she suspected, Naruto was in Sasuke's room, eating a bowl of ramen when she arrived.

Of course.

He looked up when she entered and gave her a glare. "Didn't think you'd show up."

She rolled her eyes, not caring that the move was childish. "I have a job, Naruto, and important one at that."

"Is a job more important than Sasuke?" He flung the words at her with venom.

"When Sasuke is in a coma and unable to know that anyone is even here? Yes."

"Then you can just leave and go back to your job."

"Naruto, I know you feel like the world revolves around you, but I'm here to tell you that it doesn't. You may not agree with how I live my life, but that doesn't mean you get to tell me what I will and will not do."

He sat his bowl down roughly, some of the juice from the noodles slopping over the edge. "Ya know what?"

"What?" She deadpanned.

"I don't like who you've become! It's like the girl I knew is dead!"

"The girl that you knew grew up and made a life for herself when almost everyone left. We didn't all choose to run from life, Naruto, and now that you're back you think everyone who matured is a horrible person."

Naruto was kept from answering when the door opened, revealing a nurse. "Oh, sorry. I just came to check his vitals."

"Don't worry about it." Sakura told her reassuringly. The nurse gave Sakura a smile before moving towards the machines that Sasuke was hooked up to.

Sakura took the distraction as a means of escape, not wanting to be around Naruto one more second now that she was sure Sasuke was doing fine.

She made her way to her apartment, knowing that Kakashi was busy and not wanting to disturb him. She also felt like cooking dinner, something she hadn't felt up to the past few weeks, so she made a small pit stop at the local store to pick up some ingredients that she needed and didn't have on hand.

Cooking was always therapeutic for her, and with the events of the previous day she knew she needed something to relax her.

About an hour later Sakura was putting the final touches on the pasta she made when she heard her door open. She turned around to see a familiar mask covered face pulling off his shoes at the door.

"You're just in time."

He walked into the kitchen and leaned over her to smell the food. "Smells amazing and I'm starving."

"Well then grab you a plate." She told him as she cut the stove off and moved the pot off the hot eye.

It was moments like this - Kakashi coming home to her and doing things as domestic as eating the supper that she prepared together that she realized this was what she had been missing her whole life.

And she would fight with everything she had to keep her world the way it was at this very moment.

..00..

Until next time!


	18. Chapter 16 - From this Moment

Sakura woke to the feeling of something brushing against her stomach.

She groggily turned her head and opened her eyes slightly, smiling at the image of her silver haired lover propped up on one forearm while the other gently stroked the place where their baby laid nestled in her womb.

Once he noticed that she was awake he bent down and kissed her brow, then rose slightly to look at her. It was something she had begun to think she'd never have, but here she was laying next to the man whom she loved and loved her in return. In about six months they'd welcome their child into the world and that thought sent a bolt of joy through her.

"You're beautiful."

Those were NOT tears that were gathering in her eyes. Damn hormones.

Not having any words to say she just reached up and pulled him down to her level, seeking his lips with hers.

The kiss started sweet, but quickly turned into more when Kakashi trailed his free hand down her side to cup her bare hip. She moaned into his mouth and reached up to pull him closer, needing to feel his body next to hers. He moved from his position from her side to rest above her, still keeping most of his weight on his arms.

He trailed kisses from her mouth down her neck, pulling back up so her could pull her sleep tank off her body, and then returning to her neck. She felt a shiver run through her as her bare breasts came into contact with his bare chest.

She needed more.

Reaching down she tugged on his sweats, smiling into his shoulder when her took her hint and shed himself of the offensive clothing, then ridding her of the last barrier.

She almost came apart when she felt him enter her, letting out a loud moan she was unable to hold back.

Quicker than ever before she felt her release tear through her, her lover quickly following behind.

She lay tangled in limbs, feeling deliciously spent and warm. After a few moments Kakashi moved off of her to lay on his side, pulling her body into his.

After a while Sakura felt herself being pulled back to sleep, but as soon as she was almost there she felt Kakashi get out of bed.

Peeking up at him through her lashes she watched as he moved to the dresser where he had begun to keep some of his clothes.

"Going somewhere?" She asked softly, still half asleep.

He turned and grinned at her. "WE'RE going somewhere. Come on sleepy butt, I have a surprise for you."

She turned to look at the clock on her bedside table, groaning when she saw that it was only seven forty. "Kakashi, it's a Saturday. Why in the world would I get out of bed this early?"

He simply opened her closet and pulled out a long tunic and leggings that she had recently purchased in preparation for her expanding stomach.

"Come on, put these on, I promise you'll love it."

Grumbling she pulled herself out of bed and walked towards the silver haired man and her clothes, not caring that she was completely naked.

Within fifteen minutes she had gotten dressed, brushed out her hair, and even put on some mascara and lip gloss. Having no idea where Kakashi was going to lead her, she chose a pair of sturdy sandles and then made her way to her living room, where Kakashi was tinkering around in the kitchen.

"Whatcha doing?"

He glanced back at her and pulled something from her refrigerator that she hadn't seen there last time she looked.

"Getting these." He grinned at her and waved a bag of what appeared to be muffins.

"Oh gosh, where did you get those?" She made her way over to him to inspect the bag. Sure enough, two chocolate chip muffins stared back at her.

"Got then last night. Go on and sit down while I warm these up, can't have you hungry where we're going."

As she sat down on her sofa she couldn't help but rack her brain for possibilities as to where he would be taking her. There wasn't any special events happening in Konoha that she knew of, so that couldn't be it.

"Come on, eat up, we need to get going."

She looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. "Get going where?"

He tugged on her hair as he sat down next to her to eat his own muffin. "You'll find out, now eat."

Twenty minutes later he led them out into the streets of Konoha, taking her down the path that led to the Hokage monument.

"Really Kakashi? This is where you're taking me?"

He guffed at her, reaching behind him to grab her hand and pull her along.

Due to it being early in the morning on a Saturday there were few people out, and no one around where they were. She allowed herself to be guided along, secretly wishing she was still back home in bed.

With more muffins.

After about ten minutes he turned down a different path, heading somewhere she hadn't been before.

"Okay, I'm really curious now." He just grinned down at her and kept walking.

Finally they arrived at a clearing, and while pretty, she was unsure why he would want to being her here.

Stopping he tugged her closer and wrapped his arm around her. "This is where I use to go with my mom when I was little. Few people know how to get here, so we were always able to be alone."

She looked up at him, shocked that he willingly chose to speak of his parents.

He noticed her look and flicked her nose. "I know I seldom talk about my mom or dad, but there were good times and I want to share them with you. With our child."

He took a deep breath and the arm around her tightened slightly. She wrapped her arm around his waist, knowing we would appreciate the support.

"She always told me that one day I would find a young woman who I would start a family with, though being young I always thought she was crazy. I mean, what five year old wants to think about getting married?"

She laughed at that, imagining a young Kakashi scrunching his nose up at the thought of being with a girl.

"She would have loved you. You would have been her dream come true." He bent down and kissed the top of her head as she felt tears gathering in her eyes.

She looked up at him and saw that he was looking down at her, seeing more emotion in his eyes than she had ever seen before.

"Sakura, you're what I've always been waiting for. When I was young and frustrated at life, when I couldn't understand why anyone would want to tie their life to another; I couldn't understand it because I didn't know you, or didn't know you the way I do now. I feel complete and to think that soon we'll have a baby that's half of you and half of me makes me feel almost guilty because why should I have so much happiness in my life?"

"Kakashi-"

He put a finger to her lips to silence her words. "I'm not done, silly."

She glared at him, but remained silent.

He dropped his arm from her shoulders and moved a little ways ahead of her, staring out into the expanse of the village that was laid out before them. After a moment he turned around and walked back towards her, taking her hand in his.

"I never thought I would use this, but it seems my mom knew more about my future than I did."

Using his other hand he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small item that she could see.

"Sakura, my love, I never thought I would need another person the way I need you. You complete me in ways I never knew I needed. I promise that I will always protect you, love you, cherish you and the family that we'll have. You're the reason I've learned to believe in love, the reason that I still see the good in this crazy world."

He looked at her for another moment before dropping down to one knee.

"Sakura Haruno, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

..00..

Squeal!


	19. Chapter 17 - Appointment

It's been close to a year. Oh my gosh. I'm so sorry guys, I never meant to take such a long break, but I had major writers block, I took a new job in HR, and then had a death in the family. For a while it was as hard for me to even want to write and when I sat down to nothing came out.

I never wanted to abandon this story, because it was the first one that I ever really invested myself in, but I'll admit that it hadn't ended up the way I had intended. I do now know how I want it to end and I think that's what frustrated me so much - I know how I want it to go but I couldn't make myself write it.

It may still be a slow go, but I **will** finish this.

This is a short chapter, really just to get me back in the swing of writing for this story, but also to set in motion the final stretch. I hope everyone enjoys and thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me throughout this whole thing! Muah!

..00..

Sakura bounced her knee up and down as she waited for Dr. Asnin to come into the room. The nurse had looked at her strangely when she had come in to take her vitals so she knew she'd have to be on the lookout for rumors to start, though if they did heads would roll.

She wasn't Sakura Haruno for nothing.

The door clicked open and Sakura froze as the petite doctor came into the room, smile plastered on her face in what she knew was an attempt to not show her shock at the Head of Medicine having a prenatal appointment.

"Haruno-san, how are you?"

Sakura swallowed, trying to put a lid on her nervousness. "I'm doing well, Dr. Asnin, how are you?"

"Doing well. I see here that you believe you're four months along?"

"Yes. My last period was five months ago."

She had sat down and was taking notes in her file as Sakura nervously twisted her hands. She looked up and smiled at he pink haired woman before getting up and moving over to her. "Okay, lay back and I'll check you."

Sakura did as she asked and soon felt the cool sensation of chakra entering her body. She had done this many times, but it was strange to have another person do the same. It was over in a few minutes and she sat up as the doctor moved away.

"Everything seems to be going as it should, Haruno-san. I'll schedule you for an ultrasound on Thursday at eight in the morning, unless you have some meetings planned." She looked up in question.

"Thursday is a good day, I don't have anything scheduled and I won't make any plans."

The other woman nodded and wrote down a few more things before closing her file and getting up. "Well then, I'll have someone come in and draw some blood for some lab work and then you're good to go. I'll be in touch once the results come back from your labs and ultrasound and we'll make an appointment for the next month."

"Sounds great, thank you Dr. Asnin."

"You're very welcome, Haruno-san." She gave her a smile before opening the door and walking out.

After another thirty minutes Sakura was back in her office going through charts when the door opened and a silver head popped in.

"Sakura?"

She looked up and smiled. "Kakashi! I didn't know if you'd be able to tear yourself away before lunch."

He opened the door more widely and came in, shutting the door behind him. He made his way over to her and gave her a lingering kiss before pulling a chair up and sitting down

"I normally wouldn't have, but there has been some development with Sasuke."

Her brows shot up. "With him or..."

"Some ANBU scouts just got back and apparently there was four dead unidentifiable nins close to where Sasuke was found. They brought the bodies back and currently we're trying to find something to place what village they're from or if not then if they are missing nins."

"Do you think this has anything to do with what happened almost a year ago?" It would make sense, but if it was true than that meant they were in for some major issues.

"Possibly. He obviously was on his way back to the village, but why we don't know why. Maybe he just wanted to come home, or maybe he had something to tell us. It would be best if Sasuke would wake up, but there hasn't been any changes to his condition, have there?"

She shook her head before resting her chin in her hand. "No. Shizune is still trying to confirm if he was poisoned or if it's a result of a blow to the head. Or, it could be overuse of his sharingan." It bugged her that they still didn't know, but it wasn't for a lack of trying.

"He'd have to have been using it a lot for that to happen. It's his bloodline limit, unlike with me." He shrugged before rolling his head, popping his neck in the process.

"Gross, Kashi, you know I hate that sound."

He grinned at her before getting up and dropping a kiss to her head. "I have to stop in and check on Sasuke before I head back, but how did your appointment go?"

"It went well. I have an ultrasound scheduled for Thursday; do you want to go?" What she was actually asking was if he wanted anyone to know yet that he was the father. Of course, they closed on their house in a month and once they lived together their relationship would be out.

Especially once they got married.

To be honest, she was ready for it to be out now, but she wanted to make sure he was comfortable with it.

"Of course I'm coming. I won't miss a single chance to see my child." His lopsided smile warmed her heart and she gave him a grateful smile in return.

"You sure you're ready for everyone to know?"

He sighed before sitting down again and taking her hands. "Sakura, while I love having you completely to myself, our lives are about to change forever. I want to be able to claim you both all the time and for every other man out there to know you're mine." He grinned. "And then if they still try to hit on you, you can punch them to the other side of the village."

Laughing she rolled her eyes. "You'd love that, wouldn't you?"

He simply grinned deeper at her before once again getting up and heading to the door. "I'll see you at lunch?"

"I'll bring some stuff to your office so you can keep working."

"That's why I love you."

Chuckling she watched as the door closed before going back to her own work.

An hour later a knock sounded at her door and she called for whoever it was to come on in. Shizune emerged, clutching a clipboard to her chest.

"Sakura, I've found something that may tell us why Sasuke hasn't woken up yet!"


End file.
